Our Friend Phillipa

By Margaret Hicks in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 20, 2006 1:58PM

We all have our guilty pleasures. Here at Chicagoist, our guilty pleasures range from "America’s Next Top Model" (starts tonight! Set your TiVos), to Suzy Q’s, to dressing up like K-Fed and singing “Hit Me Baby One More Time” with a fake baby at our teat. But if you want us to get specific and tell you about our literary guilty pleasures, then let us introduce you to the amazingly fun reads of Phillipa Gregory.

Gregory has written eighteen novels and six children’s books. We’ve read three of her novels, all taking place during the reign of King Henry VIII. “The Other Boleyn Girl,” “The Queen’s Fool” and “The Virgin’s Lover” all offer the level of escapism we crave. We love getting transported back to her “Flowers in the Attic” meets “Masterpiece Theater” world -- the sex, the lies, the drama and intrigue, all wrapped up in a package of consistent writing. We realize that this may not be a deep literary undertaking, and if you asked us to remember a specific scene or line of writing, we wouldn’t be able to. But if you’re interested in sitting back and enjoying yourself, grab a blanket, pretend you have a fireplace, and check out Philippa Gregory.

You can see Philippa Gregory at Books-A-Million, 144 S. Clark on Thurs., 9/21, 12:00 p.m.