Cover of The Wise Woman

The Wise Woman

  • 1992 first published
  • 516 pages
  • ★ 4.3 (3 ratings)
  • 8 editions

Published in 1992, The Wise Woman is a witch fiction and historical romance novel by Philippa Gregory. It takes readers to Great Britain in Henry VIII, 1509–1547. It deals with witches and witchcraft.

Open Library readers give it an average of 4.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, and 24 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 8 editions.

It runs to roughly 516 pages — 9–10 hours of reading at an average pace.

About The Wise Woman

This is a haunting story of a woman’s desire in a time of turbulence. Alys joins the nunnery to escape hardship and poverty but finds herself thrown back into the outside world when Henry VIII’s wreckers destroy her sanctuary. With nothing to support her but her looks, her magic and her own instinctive cunning, Alys has to tread a perilous path between the faith of her childhood and her own female power. When she falls in love with Hugo, the feudal lord and another woman’s husband, she dips into witchcraft to defeat her rival and to win her lover, but finds – as her cynical old foster-mother had advised – that magic makes a poor servant but a dominant master. Since heresy against the new church means the stake, and witchcraft the rope, Alys’s danger is mortal. A woman’s powers are no longer safe to use!
Description from Open Library

Themes, setting & tropes

Genres

Setting

Era

  • Henry VIII, 1509–1547

Subjects

  • Witches
  • Witchcraft
  • Historical romance
  • Great britain

Quick answers

Who wrote The Wise Woman?

The Wise Woman was written by Philippa Gregory and first published in 1992.

What genre is The Wise Woman?

It is usually shelved as Witch Fiction and Historical Romance.

How long is The Wise Woman?

The median edition has 516 pages, about 9–10 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.

What books are similar to The Wise Woman?

Readers who like it often enjoy Thornyhold, Ransom and The Last Enchantment.

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