Elizabeth Chadwick, who was born in 1957, is an author who writes historical fiction. She is a member of Regia Anglorum, a medieval reenactment group.

Biography

Elizabeth Chadwick was born in Bury, Lancashire, in 1957. When she was four years old, she moved with her family to Scotland and grew up in the village of Newton Mearns near Glasgow. At the age of ten, she moved to Nottingham, where she has lived ever since. She has always told herself stories, but she did not write them down until she was fifteen. Her first attempt at writing a historical novel, which was set in the Holy Land during the twelfth century, made her realize that she wanted to write historical fiction for a living.

In 1989, after many of her books were rejected by publishers, even though some won competitions, a literary agent became interested in her book The Wild Hunt. The book was sold to Michael Joseph, which is part of the Penguin Group. A year later, the book won the Betty Trask Award, which was given to the author at Whitehall by the Prince of Wales.

Elizabeth Chadwick has become one of Britain’s most respected historical novelists. The Historical Novel Society has called her “the best writer of medieval fiction currently around.” Her books are published in many countries and have been translated into 16 languages. She is well-known for her thorough research on the medieval period, especially the Marshal and Bigod families. Her novels about William Marshal, a powerful figure in the thirteenth century, The Greatest Knight (2005) and The Scarlet Lion (2006), have earned her international recognition.