Virginia Henley

I was born in England and went to school there. That's when I discovered my undying passion for history - not just…

— Virginia Henley

“Love is a journey from the first blush of physical attraction to a marriage of souls.”

— Virginia Henley

I have always been drawn to the Restoration period of Charles II. I have a soft spot for Charles Stuart, who was…

— Virginia Henley

“With horror he saw that her hair was already afire as the tarred stake burned about her head. He held her agonized…

— Virginia Henley

I first started writing historical fiction in the late '70s and kept pictures of Kathleen Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers on my refrigerator…

— Virginia Henley

I begin early in the morning and edit everything I wrote the previous day. I write until mid-afternoon. My goal is to…

— Virginia Henley

To have a successful writing career, you must be willing to sacrifice a great deal. The book, the deadline come first before…

— Virginia Henley

'The Irish Duke' is a sequel to 'The Decadent Duke' about Lady Georgina Gordon who married the Duke of Bedford. 'The Irish…

— Virginia Henley

“...to be Irish is to know the world will break your heart before you are thirty.”

— Virginia Henley

“Darling, we're all whores under the skin, whether we give ourselves by calculation or by desire. It's just that some of us…

— Virginia Henley

I love to read history books, which is where I get my ideas. I also read historical romance for pleasure.

— Virginia Henley

I did a great deal of research to write 'The Irish Duke.' Since all the people in this Lords of the Realm…

— Virginia Henley

It was an easy decision for me which books to self-publish as ebooks. I got the rights back to two Avon books…

— Virginia Henley

I devour history books. I love anything by Thomas B. Costain or George MacDonald Fraser. He writes magnificent history, and he also…

— Virginia Henley

History is my passion. So I write what I love to read. I find that if I combine history with a strong,…

— Virginia Henley

“... love pales into insignificance when pitted against ambition.”

— Virginia Henley

In 1976, I read a book by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and knew immediately that I, too, could write a historical romance. It…

— Virginia Henley

“So this was love then—wanting to give only pleasure to the beloved; constantly searching your mind for love tokens that would bring…

— Virginia Henley

I love to have real people of history interact with my fictional characters. History gives me the plot. I research the period…

— Virginia Henley

Probably every book I read influenced me in some small way. Authors like Jan Westcott, Kathleen Winsor, Catherine Cookson, Georgette Heyer, and…

— Virginia Henley