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Philippa Gregory has been called the 鈥楺ueen of Historical Fiction鈥. The English royal court has inspired many of her best-selling titles, and she鈥檚 written sixteen novels about the Plantagenets and Tudors. One of them 鈥 The Other Boleyn Girl 鈥 became a 麻豆社 TV drama and a Hollywood movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. This success probably surprised her A level teachers: she says she found history 鈥榠nsanely boring鈥 at school, but her passion was fired at university. She鈥檚 also written non-fiction, notably seeking the stories of what she calls 鈥榥ormal women鈥 over 900 years. More recently she鈥檚 returned to the Tudors, with a novel called Boleyn Traitor, focussing on the intrigue surrounding Anne鈥檚 sister-in-law, Jane. Her music choices include Mozart, Philip Glass, Scott Joplin and the Mazurka from Coppelia by Leo Delibes. Producer: Katy Hickman
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