Chadwick, Elizabeth

(Susan E. Hicks)

PERSONAL: Born Susan E. Hicks.

ADDRESSES: Home—Nottingham, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author.

AWARDS, HONORS: Betty Trask Award, England, for The Wild Hunt; shortlist, Parker Pen Award for Romantic Novel of the Year, Romantic Novelists Association, 1998, for The Champion, 2003, for Winter Mantle, and 2004, for The Falcons of Montabard.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Wild Hunt, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1991.

The Running Vixen, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1992.

Children of Destiny, Michael Joseph (London, England), 1993.

The Leopard Unleashed, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1993.

Shields of Pride, Ivy Books (New York, NY), 1994.

First Knight (novelization of the film), Boxwood (New York, NY), 1995.

Daughters of the Grail, Ivy Books (New York, NY), 1995.

The Conquest, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

The Champion, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1998.

The Love Knot, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1999.

The Marsh King's Daughter, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Lords of the White Castle, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

The Winter Mantle, Little, Brown (London, England), 2002, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2003.

The Falcons of Montabard, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Shadows and Strongholds: A Novel, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

The Greatest Knight: The Story of William Marshall, Time/Warner (London, England), 2005.

Chadwick's books have been translated into Swedish, German, Czech, Russian, Spanish, Estonian, and Bulgarian.

ADAPTATIONS: The Champion was adapted for audiobook, Clipper Audio, 1997; Lords of the White Castle was adapted for audiobook, Clipper Audio, 2000; The Winter Mantle was adapted for audiobook, Soundings Audio, 2002; Falcons of Montabard was adapted for audiobook, Soundings Audio, 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A sequel to The Greatest Knight: The Story of William Marshall.

SIDELIGHTS: British novelist Elizabeth Chadwick focuses on the Middle Ages for her popular historical romances. Inspired as a teenager by the movie The War Lord starring Charlton Heston, Chadwick began to research the medieval world and write about it. Her first success came with the 1991 title, The Wild Hunt and since then she has turned out about a book a year. In an interview for the Web site All About Romance, Chadwick noted, "My favourite period is the one I write about—1066–1250. My first novels were written in this period and it's the one I have researched in most depth."

Most of Chadwick's titles have been published in the United States. Reviewing her 2002 title, Lords of the White Castle, a Publishers Weekly contributor praised her medieval re-creation, noting that the author conveys a "vivid portrait of her native Britain in feudal times." For Harriet Klausner, writing on AllReaders.com, Lords of the White Castle "is biographical fiction at its most exciting best." Chadwick does not shy away from the rougher aspects of the medieval world. As Maureen Griffin noted in a Kliatt review of The Marsh King's Daughter, "Murder, sex, war, ransom are presented unflinchingly." Also reviewing The Winter Mantle for Kliatt, Griffin further observed that "there is considerable gore and explicit sex." Other reviewers have noted Chadwick's ability to combine thorough historical research with lively tales of love and war. Reviewing The Winter Mantle for Booklist, Margaret Flanagan called it, "a heartrending tale of love and loss." Writing on that same title for AllReaders.com, Klausner found the work "an exciting historical novel." Booklist contributor Kate Mediatore, reviewing The Falcons of Montabard, noted, "All characters, fictional and historical, are fully realized." Chadwick noted in her interview for All About Romance, "I enjoy writing historical fiction because it's a door to another world."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1992, Denise Perry Donavin, review of The Running Vixen, p. 1501; August, 1997, Margaret Flanagan, review of The Conquest, p. 1876; November 15, 1998, Patty Engelman, review of The Champion, p. 573; March 1, 2003, Margaret Flanagan, review of The Winter Mantle, p. 1145; May 15, 2004, Kate Mediatore, review of The Falcons of Montabard, p. 1607.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1991, review of The Wild Hunt, p. 1026; April 1, 1992, review of The Running Vixen, p. 409; September 15, 2004, review of Shadows and Strongholds: A Novel, p. 991.

Kliatt, September, 2002, Maureen Griffin, review of The Marsh King's Daughter (audiobook), p. 54; January, 2004, Maureen Griffin, review of The Winter Mantle (audiobook), p. 51.

Library Journal, September 1, 1991, Mary Ann Parker, review of The Wild Hunt, p. 228; April 1, 1992, Mary Ann Parker, review of The Running Vixen, p. 145; July, 1997, Elizabeth Mary Mellett, review of The Conquest, p. 122; November 15, 1998, Elizabeth Mary Mellett, review of The Champion, p. 90; November 15, 1999, Kristin Ramsdell, review of The Love Knot, p. 54.

Publishers Weekly, August 16, 1991, review of The Wild Hunt, p. 47; March 29, 1993, review of The Leopard Unleashed, p. 38; July 3, 1995, review of Daughters of the Grail, p. 56; October 12, 1998, review of The Champion, p. 58; October 11, 1999, review of The Love Knot, p. 52; July 24, 2000, review of The Marsh King's Daughter, p. 71; February 18, 2002, review of Lords of the White Castle, p. 74;

School Library Journal, March, 1992, Sue Davis, review of The Wild Hunt, p. 266.

ONLINE

All About Romance, http://www.likesbooks.com/ (July 5, 2003), "Elizabeth Chadwick—The English One."

AllReaders.com, http://www.allreaders.com/ (January 4, 2006), Becky Lee, review of First Knight, The Wild Hunt, and Running Vixen; Harriet Klausner, review of Lords of the White Castle, The Falcons of Montabard, and The Winter Mantle; Annette Gisby, review of The Love Knot.

Elizabeth Chadwick Home Page, http://www.elizabethchadwick.com (January 4, 2006).

Historical Romance Writers, http://historicalromancewriters.com/ (January 4, 2006), "Meet Elizabeth Chadwick."

Suite101.com, http://www.suite101.com/ (January 4, 2006), Wendy J. Dunn, "Tudor England."