In 1922, Lady Evelyn Herbert’s dreams are realised when she is the first to set foot inside the lost tomb of Tutankhamun for over 3,000 years. But the months after the discovery are marred by tragedy, when Eve’s father dies suddenly and her family is torn in two. Desperate to put the past behind her, […]
The politics of Tutankhamun’s tomb
Nearly a century after the excavations at Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, we are coming to regard the finders, keepers attitude towards ancient objects in countries other than our own as (at least) problematic. No such hesitation troubled Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter at the time, though the discovery would […]
My problems writing about Jackie Kennedy and Maria Callas
Writing historical fiction about famous 20th-century people may mean that there are more records to draw on than are available for previous centuries. But it brings its own set of problems, as author Gill Paul found while working on her latest novel, The Second Marriage. Biographical novels have long been a popular form of historical […]
The Second Marriage by Gill Paul
Jackie:When her first marriage ends in tragedy, Jackie Kennedy fears she’ll never love again. But all that changes when she encounters… Ari:Successful and charming, Ari Onassis is a man who promises her the world. Yet soon after they marry, Jackie learns that his heart also belongs to another… Maria:A beautiful, famed singer, Maria Callas is […]
Review: The Last Czars
Gill Paul, author of two novels about the Romanovs, reviews the Netflix series The Last Czars for Historia
The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul
1918 With the country they once ruled turned against them, the future of Russia’s imperial family hangs in the balance. When middle daughter Maria Romanova captivates two of the guards, it will lead to a fateful choice between right and wrong. Fifty-five years later . . . Val rushes to her father’s side when she […]
Stockholm Syndrome in Ekaterinburg?
In April 1918, the former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and their children were moved by their Bolshevik captors to a house in Ekaterinburg, owned by a merchant called Ipatiev. Three weeks later, the rest of the family followed. They would never again set foot outside its confines. The building was surrounded by a […]