The Front List: Philippa Gregory in conversation with Val McDermid

While researching her more than 30 bestselling novels on Tudor history, Philippa Gregory learned that it was only when women did something properly outrageous or above her station that they made it into the history books. So, she sought to change it: Normal Women is Gregory’s epic new work of non-fiction – a decade in the making – which takes the usual portrayals of women as mothers, criminals, or occasionally queens and redefines what is expected as ‘normal’ for women – to include heroism, rebellion, money-making, sainthood, and a considerable amount of rioting in their daily exploits. Gregory will talk to Val McDermid about how she rewrote 900 years of history and ushered in the regular women who deserved to be in the pages.