Today, I have Tony Riches visiting me. He does that from time to time, usually because there’s a new exciting book of his to talk about. And yes, there IS a new exciting book to talk about, but as I haven’t read it yet, it will have to wait some weeks. Instead, I was chatting w Tony and we ended up talking about why he has written so many books about the Elizabethan Age. Tony decided to write me a post about his inspiration.
In general, I’m not a fan of the Tudors—to some extent because I’m a Plantagenet person, but also because SO much has been written about them. especially Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. In his books set in Elizabethan times, Tony sidesteps the risk of repetition by writing about the people who lived in the shadow of the rather impressive, if dangerous, Elizabeth I. She is definitekly central to the lives of the people depicted, but she isn’t the centre of the narrative, if you will.
But enough from me, let’s hear from Tony instead!
Inspiration for Writing The Elizabethan Series, by Tony Riches
I was born in the town of Pembroke, in the far west of Wales, birthplace of Henry Tudor, and began researching Henry’s life. I found I’d gathered enough material for a Tudor Trilogy, where Henry is born in the first book, comes of age in the second and becomes king in the third.
(Anna: I especially liked Jasper!)
Pleased with the success of the series, I continued to tell the stories of the Tudors with my Brandon trilogy, which continues with the life of Henry VIII’s youngest sister and her husband, Sir Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. The story of Charles Brandon’s last wife, heiress Katherine Willoughby, led up to the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. (Anna: And what a book that was! I knew of Katherine before reading it, but the sheer drama of her life was mind-boggling)
I wanted to show the complex character of Queen Elizabeth through the eyes of three of her favourites, each of whom had a very different perspective on their enigmatic queen. Sir Francis Drake worshipped her as ‘Gloriana’, and brought her caskets of Spanish gold and jewels. Sir Robert Devereax, Earl of Essex, was like the irreverent son she never had, and Sir Walter Raleigh was her employee, the captain of her guard.
During my research for what was originally intended as another trilogy, I was struck by the way the queen treated even her most loyal ladies, often banishing them from court for life – or worse. (Anna: she was quite, quite horrible at times! I blame permanent insecurities and a constant mistrust of more or less everyone—consequences of her less than happy childhood/youth) I decided to choose some of her less well-known ladies, and show more facets of Elizabeth’s character through their fascinating stories.
From all Elizabeth’s ladies I chose three for their very different relationships to her. Baroness Penelope Rich was the daughter of the queen’s nemesis, Lady Lettice Knollys, (banished for marrying Sir Robert Dudley in secret, without the queen’s permission.)
I discovered Lady Penelope’s amazing story while researching her younger brother, the Earl of Essex. Forced into a very unsatisfactory arranged marriage by her stepfather, Robert Dudley, Penelope emerges as a surprisingly modern woman who cares little for the strict rules of Elizabethan society.
One of the many notable Elizabethans who crops up throughout the series is the queen’s ‘spymaster’, Sir Francis Walsingham. I discovered his secrets were shared with his only surviving daughter, Frances, who surprised everyone by marrying Penelope’s wayward brother, the Earl of Essex, and became the Countess of Essex.
My third choice was Lady Bess Raleigh, wife of Sir Walter. As well as enabling me to tell the rest of Walter’s story, Bess suffered the worst of Queen Elizabeth’s anger for marrying him without her permission. Not only was Bess banished for life, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London – and remained there for some time, even after Walter was forgiven.
After fourteen years of research and twelve books, I have finally told the entire story of the Tudors from the first meeting of Owen Tudor and Queen Catherine of Valois, to the final days of Queen Elizabeth I. I am now working on what happened next, and researching a new Stuart trilogy. (Anna: See? The new book I mentioned above! Looking forward to reading Tony’s take on peeps like James I & VI…)
Tony Riches, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Author Bio
Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of Tudor historical fiction. He lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the lives of the early Tudors. As well as his Elizabethan series, Tony’s historical fiction novels include the best-selling Tudor trilogy and his Brandon trilogy, (about Charles Brandon and his wives). For more information about Tony’s books please visit his website tonyriches.com and his blog, The Writing Desk and find him on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Twitter @tonyriches.
Links:
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tony-Riches/e/B006UZWOXA
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Riches/e/B006UZWOXA
Website: https://www.tonyriches.com/
Writing blog: https://tonyriches.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyriches
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tonyriches.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyriches.author
Podcasts: https://tonyriches.podbean.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5604088.Tony_Riches