Hester Biddle was a Quaker preacher who was imprisoned 14 times, often simply for preaching. She was enraged by the growing inequalities of C17th London and warned that God would judge those who ignored the needs of those begging for food on the streets. Ch 7 of Voices of Thunder tells her story

🌟NEW BOOK RELEASE🌟 Enjoy an excerpt from a powerful new historical fiction novel set during Italy's medieval plague years. #CoffeePotBookClub @cathiedunn.bsky.social #MedievalSky #GreatHistoricalFiction www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

I’m pleased to say you can now pre-order my next book, ‘Fairies: A History’ (out in February 2026) from @politybooks.bsky.social. Thank you to Jeremy Harte, Simon Young, Jo Hickey-Hall and Owen Davies for such generous endorsements! 🌿📚 www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

Featured on my blog with a #BookReview today, a terrific #CoffeePotBookClub #NewRelease: Tailored Truths by @nansjar23.bsky.social #GreatHistoricalFiction #Victorian @cathiedunn.bsky.social www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

Thanks to a Kindle Promo, The Godmother's Secret is on sale for 99p all of October. geni.us/GodmothersSe... "Extremely well written. The best book I've read in ages." - Richard III Society #Medieval #HistoricalFiction #MedievalSky #PrincesintheTower

Just researching Sir Edward Herbert for my WiP and came across this miniature by Isaac Oliver, which is exactly the kind of selfie I would love my boyfriend to give me. Apparently, he's chilling in the woods after a joust. #EarlyModern #17thC #KeepitStuart #ComeHither

29 September 1582: As it's Michaelmas, presumably everyone is having to pay their rents and other such tiresome admin and is generally in a bad mood. Unless of course they're landlords, like Elizabeth I, who, it appears by a paper today, has spent £881 23d on embroidery this year. 1/ #earlymodern

This is interesting—I see a lot of these tells in my work with writing scams, where the use of chatbots in scam solicitations and impersonations has become ubiquitous.

Another AI triumph #earlymodern www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

#Caturday Bleh.

Looks like a fourth isn't too far away. Wonderful portrait - and a poignant reminder of who she was as a mother, just in case she didn't survive the dangers of childbirth. She was 35 when this was painted.

Perkin Warbeck suffered a traitor's death but what if ... he really was one of the lost princes in the tower http://mybook.to/asongofsixpence ##HistoricalFiction ##Tudors ##HistFic ##Audible ##KU

The Tower has given up its secrets… Exceptionally well-researched, beautifully written, and utterly gripping.” “A compelling tale weaving together conspiracy, passion, and the struggle for a woman's voice in a patriarchal society.” #HistoricalFiction www.elizabethjstjohn.com/books/missin...

From the visible scars of the Great Fire to the haunting memories of the Great Plague, I travel deep into the peril and danger that lurked in Restoration London. Was the discovery of the murdered princes a sign, as Charles II claimed? #HistoricalFiction elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/immersed-i...

Lucy Apsley funded Raleigh and the "Wizard Earl" in their alchemy, allowing them to experiment in her henhouse. In return, she gained valuable medical insights with which to nurse her prisoners in the Tower of London. #EarlyModern #Stuarts #Medicine elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/a-woman-al...

A delightful new release from the wonderful Stephanie Cowell. Enjoy an excerpt on my blog today. #CoffeePotBookClub #GreatHistoricalFiction #HistoricalFiction #Brontes @cathiedunn.bsky.social www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

Delighted to share that my first book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England (co-written with the fantastic @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, and Hannah Robb) has been published and is available free and Open Access! doi.org/10.1017/9781... #earlymodern #economic #history

I recently discovered this correspondence describing James's accident on the stairs at Lydiard Park...and the cover-up of how badly bruised he was. #EarlyModern #InHisCups www.friendsoflydiardpark.org.uk/tales-of-lyd...

This looks intriguing! Adding to my TBR pile. Interested to see how it compares with Lucy Hutchinson's Memoirs and the demise of her family after her husband's imprisonment and death (although he was a regicide, he was pardoned by Charles, and then set up later by Buckingham).

My research assistant has had enough. Time to stand up, stretch and get some lunch. #WritersLife #AmResearching #AmWriting #HistoricalFiction #Caturday.

The Queen's influence: how Henrietta Maria Stuart was so much more than a royal wife londonlifewithliz.com/2018/04/08/t... #Stuarts #History

Had a great day writing today. I would have written twice as much if I hadn't spent so much time in Visscher's London. This version has a zoom function, which means I could explore on foot and by water. Tired but happy. #EarlyModern #Stuarts #London upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

Henry VII’s funeral effigy at Westminster Abbey is thought to be modelled on a plaster death mask. Along with Elizabeth of York’s effigy—and the poignant figure of Mary Tudor—the Queen's Galleries preserve a rare and remarkable collection. #Skystorians elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/history-fa...

#HistoricalFiction On my website today, delighted to feature an excerpt from a fascinating book. #CoffeePotBookClub #MedievalSky @cathiedunn.bsky.social @malvevonhassell.bsky.social www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

The missing Princes in the Tower became a cultural obsession in Victorian times, fuelling an outpouring of sentimental art, bloodthirsty stories and high drama about the young king and his brother. #MedievalSky #ArtHistory #PrincesintheTower elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/a-victoria...

I've spent the week getting to know Substack. I've enjoyed some great conversations - including this one with @cryssabazos.bsky.social about "unicorns of the sea" and 17thC apothecaries. Good to find another nice place alongside #Bluesky online. #EarlyModern #History substack.com/@elizabethst...

Writing #RegencyHistoricalFiction is an art, and Catherine Kullman is so talented at creating a world and characters. Enjoy her latest novel and my review. #CoffeePotBookClub @cathiedunn.bsky.social #HistoricalFiction #GreatHIstoricalFiction #GeorgetteHeyer www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

#FREEBOOKFRIDAY I just made that up. But, here it is. Add yours in the replies, if you like. Let's give some words away today. #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalRomance #FreeBooks www.amazon.com/dp/B08968QZYF

Lady Johanna St.John’s book of recipes and curatives contained known plants with pharmacological benefits - rosemary, lavender, digitalis. She also recommended drinking powdered unicorn horns and wearing dried toads… #EarlyModern #Medicine elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/science-an...

"Do not expect to hear of all your good at once" a song and chorus from Ben Jonson's #Masque of Augurs (1622). Music by Nicholas Lanier, who was born #onthisday 1588. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYMW... #earlymusic #earlymodern #benjonson #courtmasque

Seek out your family stories, and maybe those will illuminate your own. #Genealogy #FamilyHistory elizabethstjohn.substack.com/p/exploring-...

Lucy Hutchinson raised her children and managed her household within the ruins of Nottingham Castle. Her Memoirs reveal the challenges of nursing enemy soldiers, and childhood games amid cannon fire. #EnglishCivilWar #LucyHutchinson #EarlyModern www.elizabethjstjohn.com/behind-the-s...

NEW BOOK RELEASE "A deeply engaging read that lingers in the mind long after the last page.” Congratulations @wendyjdunn.bsky.social on your fabulous new #HistoricalFiction Novel! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Review and 📖Excerpt on my website. #Tudors #GreatHistoricalFiction www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

A lovely spotlight from #CoffeePotBookClub today. So delighted that The King's Intelligencer was awarded #BookoftheYear. Were children's bones discovered in the Tower the Missing Princes? Charles II thought so. But there are dangerous secrets to be uncovered... #HistoricalFiction

Q. Who had the strongest claim to succeed Elizabeth I? Answer: James VI (as was widely accepted at the time). Here, though, is the succession according to an opponent of James’s claim, Robert Persons, in 1594/5. An elaborate effort to muddy the waters. #Tudors #KingJames400 #earlymodern

We're shining a bright Spotlight on the Missing Princes in the Tower with 👑The Godmother's Secret by Elizabeth St.John👑 Discover a compelling ’what if’ story! thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2025/09/shin... #AwardWinning #HistoricalFiction #MissingPrinces @elizabethstjohn.bsky.social

If you knew what happened to the #MissingPrinces, would you tell? Thanks #CoffeePotBookClub for shining a spotlight on The Godmother's Secret - Book of the Year! #GreatHistoricalFiction #MedievalSky #HistoricalMystery thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2025/09/shin...

One of our project blog posts but resharing for #WorldLetterWritingDay. 📜 🗃️ #EarlyModern

Sometimes history doesn’t just whisper from the archives – it calls you by name. Every novelist dreams of a discovery that can’t be ignored. I found mine in the Tower — and in my own family. #MedievalSky #FamilyHistory #MissingPrinces #HistoricalFiction www.elizabethjstjohn.com/books/lost-a...

NEW BOOK RELEASE Mark Turnbull's brilliant biography of Rupert of the Rhine publishes Sep 2 in the US. I was fortunate to receive an ARC - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟! It's a don't miss for #EarlyModern #SeventeenthCentury #EnglishCivilWar #Skystorians www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author... @1642author.bsky.social

Writing historical fiction from family stories is one of those things I don't think I'll ever stop doing. Even when I resolve after the latest novel that I'll never write again. It's in my blood. What's your writing passion? #Amresearching #Amwriting #HistoricalFiction www.elizabethjstjohn.com

Best research assistant ever. #Caturday #AmWriting #HistoricalFiction

In 1483, on Richard III's watch, the princes disappeared. Or did they? In 1674, Charles II discovered their bones. Or did he? #TheMissingPrinces #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalMystery #Medievalsky #Stuarts #SeventeenthCentury #KindleUnlimited www.elizabethjstjohn.com/updates/what...

I guess it was a thing to be painted with your child on a chair c. 1617. Marcus Gheeraerts' portrait of Lucy Apsley and her son, Allen; unknown (and pregnant) woman and child by Van Somer. We think. Remarkably similar sets... #EarlyModern #SeventeenthCentury

POSTDOCTORAL SHOWCASE! Come and hear all about the exciting work our post-doctoral fellows have done this past year! Starring @claireturner.bsky.social & Jean David Eynard. 25 September, 5-6pm, Crowdcast. Register here: www.crowdcast.io/c/postdoctor... #EarlyModern #SkyStorians

Born on this day in 1623, in Bruges, Pieter Janssens Elinga. Painter of clean, still rooms and sometimes still lifes. Here, three human players fixed amid intense geometry of walls, windows, floor, & light.

The Wanderer and the Way - today I'm featuring an excerpt from an intriguing new historical fiction novel set in the 9th Century on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. #CoffeePotBookClub #GreatHistoricalFiction @cathiedunn.bsky.social www.elizabethjstjohn.com/guest-author...

REGISTRATION OPEN! Now more than ever, research is reshaping our view of women’s roles in the early modern book trade. Join us in Antwerp (5–7 Nov 2025) for our conference Women & the Household in the #earlymodern Book Trade. Register here: tinyurl.com/womenbooktrade #rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜

Nothing like a hefty liturgical volume to make your Monday! Oversaw the digitization of this chunky boy, a folio-format gradual, printed in 1617 and with an #earlymodern binding bearing the date ‘1629’. #rarebooks #bookhistory 💙📚📜

An interesting take on recreating Richard III's voice, using his skeleton and words from a speech he gave. www.npr.org/2024/11/28/n...