Gill Paul

Gill Paul is an author of historical fiction, specialising in relatively recent history. She has written two novels about the Romanovs and Russia. The Secret Wife (2016) tells the story of cavalry officer Dmitri Malama and Grand Duchess Tatiana, the second daughter of Russia’s last tsar, who met in 1914, and in October 2018, The Lost Daughter, about Maria, the third daughter, will be published. Another Woman’s Husband, is about links you may not have been aware of between Wallis Simpson, later Duchess of Windsor, and Diana, Princess of Wales. Gill’s other novels include Women and Children First, about a young steward who works on the Titanic; The Affair, set in Rome in 1961–62 as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton fall in love while making Cleopatra; and No Place for a Lady, about two Victorian sisters who travel out to the Crimean War of 1854–56 and face challenges beyond anything they could have imagined. Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A History of Medicine in 50 Objects and series of Love Stories, each containing fourteen tales of real-life couples: how they met, why they fell for each other, and what happened in the end. Published around the world, this series includes Royal Love Stories, World War I Love Stories and Titanic Love Stories. Gill swims year-round in an open-air pond – “It’s good for you so long as it doesn’t kill you”– and is a devotee of Pilates. She also particularly enjoys travelling on what she calls “research trips” and attempting to match-make for friends.