Lauren Willig Quotes

I think the Queen enjoyed my book on her father, George VI.

I love writers all across the board, but one who influenced me very directly at the beginning was Mary Renault.

I am a huge admirer of Elizabeth I, and this intriguing biography gives a wonderful picture of the era.

I met Eva Ibbotson before I became a writer myself, and was in awe of her then.

Jean Plaidy was the greatest influence on me.

I realize that I had always in my heart of hearts planned to write a biography of Marie Antoinette.

In 'Plutarch,' her voice begins to come out; there are actual 2,000-year-old quotes from Cleopatra, and they are sly and saucy.

It had never occurred to me to write a historical novel, but then I found Hadley in the pages of Hemingway's 'A Moveable Feast' and wanted to know more about her - who she was, how she and Ernest met and fell in love, what it was like for her to be married to such a demanding and stormy force of nature.

I'd like to be Queen Elizabeth.

Janet Malcolm's probably the writer I most admire and who's most influenced me.

I like all the families in the U.K. But what I like about the idea of the royal family is... they seem like they're well educated and there's something admirable about them. And the Queen... she reminds me of my grandma.

Most of what I knew of George VI was from watching 'The King's Speech!'

When I finished 'True History of the Kelly Gang,' I realised that Faulkner had not lost his power over me.

Growing up, the image I had of Princess Margaret was completely different. I knew that she was a slightly tragic figure, but I didn't know why. Now, I love her with my all my heart. She was such an amazing person, and getting to 'know' her better was an honor.

The two books I've re-read more than any others are Guenter Grass's 'The Tin Drum' and Victor Hugo's 'Notre-Dame de Paris'.

Guy Kay is probably my favorite and the writer I most want to emulate.

If Plutarch is the essayist I want to believe he is, he would want us all to sit in his chair.

I watched tons of archive footage of princess Margaret and listened to the music she loved; that was really immersive and brilliant.

The admiration of another writer’s work is almost in inverse proportion to similarities in style.

It is the function of the novelist to reveal the hidden life at its source: to tell us more about Queen Victoria than could be known, and thus to produce a character who is not the Queen Victoria of history.

One of his officers, Henry Lee, summed up contemporary public opinion of Washington: First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

An epic subject requires a writer of epic skill and scope, and we have a perfect pairing in Cleopatra and Stacy Schiff. Absorbing and illuminating, this new biography will endure.

I think anyone who writes suspense fiction and says that King isn't an influence is either lying or being foolish.

I have a deep appreciation for the wisdom of this guy , George Washington.

Because I had grown up with Jane Austen novels and period dramas, I was very familiar with that period and that world.