Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

. This week, I’ve been reading Margaret Irwin, a historical novelist who wrote in the 1940’s. Next week, I’m planning to reread my old Jean Plaidy’s, another historical novelist who wrote in the 60’s and 70’s.

I’m reading these books because I read a biography of Elizabeth I and Robert, Earl of Leicester. It was a fascinating book, not least because the author constantly referred back to depictions of these two in film and literature. Her favourites were written by Margaret Irwin, and she mentioned it was a shame that her books were out of print, along with Jean Plaidy.

Nevertheless, I tried to get a copy of the Margaret Irwin books – and found, to my surprise, that they had been reissued, along with some Jean Plaidy’s.

It seems the success of The Other Boleyn Girl, book and film, and the TV series of The Tudors, had led to a resurgence of interest in Tudor historical novels. And once people had run out of Phillipa Gregory books to read, they turned to the old favourites – Margaret Irwin and Jean Plaidy. And now a whole new generation are discovering these wonderful novels,some written almost 70 years ago.

The moral of the story? You’re not just writing for today. You’re writing for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Your work may not be successful today. It may not even be successful in your lifetime. But someday, someone, somewhere, will find what you write suits the time perfectly.