It turns out they are all reincarnations of people who lived in Tudor times, in the reign of Edward VI. A group of people convene in Kent for a house party in the 1960s. It came out in 1972, was a major bestseller at the time, and is now considered something of a modern classic. First up we have Green Darkness, by Anya Seton. Let’s talk about the books you want to recommend. But if there are glaring inaccuracies or if the historical context is misunderstood, they lose me very quickly. If novels are about fictional characters, then as long as the context is authentic enough then I think they’re fine. How do you feel about historical novels that are entirely fictional-how accurate do they need to be? Your novels are dramatisations of historical events. And this is the age of the spread of diplomacy and printing. There were wonderful costumes in that era, which grabs many people.

We can see something of the magnificence of the Tudor palaces, like Hampton Court. Even so, there are tantalising gaps, and historians can endlessly debate them. Henry VIII’s great matter brought the royal marriage into public focus for the first time in history. No details were considered too trivial to be reported by ambassadors. Also, we’ve got an unprecedented amount of source material. Your bestselling work of history The Six Wives of Henry VIII was published in 1991, and since then many of your books have been on related subjects. I asked you to recommend Tudor historical fiction, given your extensive knowledge of the field both as historian and historical fiction author. Foreign Policy & International Relations.

Green Darkness by Anya Seton