Additional information
by Philippa Gregory (Author)
The bestselling, critically acclaimed new women's history book from Philippa Gregory - adapted for teen and YA readers!
Shortlisted for the SLA Information Book Award 2026!
Today, when we think of women of the past, we often think of the 1800s and 1900s - crinolines and stage coaches, bonnets and balls - a time when women were told they were naturally inferior to men, and must stay at home while men went out to work and have fun.
HUGE MISTAKE! There is so much more to women's history than bonnets and big dresses! Ordinary women have been doing extraordinary things FOR EVER - it just didn't make the history books (written by men!).
Join multi-award-winning author Philippa Gregory as she tells the story of ordinary English women, making history for 900 years. Meet farmers, highwaywomen, pirates, 'female husbands', slaves, soldiers, criminals, writers, inventors, rioters and more - protesting, working, playing, taking risks, getting rich (and getting even!). Their story is one of ingenuity, diversity, rebellion, survival - and sisterhood.
Adapted by Philippa Gregory from her best-selling, critically acclaimed Normal Women. This edition for younger readers has simplified, age-tailored content, delivered in bitesize sections, and is illustrated throughout by award-winning printmaker Alexis Snell.
Also available as an audio book - shortlisted for the British Audio Awards 2025!
PRAISE FOR NORMAL WOMEN (teen edition):
'Impressively researched, by turns inspiring and chilling ... brilliantly told' - Cressida Cowell
'This book is redemption for unsung female heroes. Prepare to feel aghast, proud and inspired' - Geri Halliwell
'Uplifting and empowering' - Edwina Dunn, The Female Lead
PRAISE FOR NORMAL WOMEN (main edition):
A NEW STATESMEN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
'A lasting work of social history' THE TIMES
'A genuinely new history of our nation' DAN JONES
'This celebration of women is a triumph of popular history' SPECTATOR
'Philippa Gregory uses all her bestseller skills to weave a narrative with pace' ANTONIA FRASER
'You'll lose count of the number of things you learn about women and their skewed place in history ... the book reframes the past ... an essential read' INDEPENDENT, FIVE-STAR REVIEW
Author Biography
Philippa Gregory is an internationally renowned author of historical novels and middle-grade fiction for children. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. Works that have been adapted for television include A Respectable Trade, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool. The Other Boleyn Girl is now a major film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Her latest novel, Boleyn Traitor, won Fiction Book of the Year award at the 2026 British Book Awards. Philippa Gregory lives in the North of England with her family.
Alexis Snell is the author-illustrator of The Bear in the Stars, a picture book for young readers, and the illustrator of several other books, including two Dr Who story collections. Her beautiful designs can be found on packaging, stationery, wallpaper, textiles and furniture.
