PHOTO: Judith Lennox, acclaimed author of historical fiction, whose novels bring to life the untold stories of resilient women.
Stories Of Resilience Love And History
Bestselling author Judith Lennox discusses her literary journey, writing process, and the powerful female characters that populate her novels set across richly imagined historical landscapes.
Judith Lennox has long been a luminous voice in historical fiction, her storytelling marked by emotional richness, authentic period detail, and an abiding sensitivity to the inner lives of her characters. With a literary career spanning more than three decades, she has given readers a remarkable body of work that explores the resilience of women, the complexity of human relationships, and the transformative arc of love and loss through the turbulent years of the twentieth century.
From Reynardine to The Winter House, and now A Different World, Lennox continues to transport her readers with tales that bridge personal and political upheaval. Her heroines, often tested by circumstance and change, are drawn with warmth, dignity and defiance — a reflection, perhaps, of the strong women in her own lineage. These characters do not merely survive history; they live it, challenge it, and shape it in small, profound ways.
Equally vivid are the landscapes she conjures — the misty vastness of the East Anglian Fens, the golden beauty of Florence, the secluded houses that hold secrets as tightly as the hearts that inhabit them. For Lennox, setting is never mere backdrop; it is emotional terrain, echoing and intensifying the lives it contains.
A writer of depth and compassion, Judith Lennox invites us to listen closely to voices of the past — not as distant echoes, but as urgent, living stories that continue to speak to who we are today.
Your latest novel, A Different World, opens in 1939. What inspired you to explore this period of history?
A Different World was published by Headlinein July. It opens in the summer of 1939 and follows the story of Olivia Goodland through the decades to the late 1970s. I chose 1939 as the starting point because it is a pivotal moment in history and because the approach of war puts pressure on my characters.At the opening of the novel, Olivia is nineteen, on the brink of adult life.
In A Different World, Olivia meets Grace Ruthwell. How do their contrasting personalities drive the narrative forward?
Grace Ruthwell is glamorous, wealthy and privileged; Olivia comes from amodestbackground. Away from home and living in London for the first time, she is captivated by Grace’s charisma and friendliness and entranced by the different world she inhabits. Though Grace has genuine affection for Olivia she is driven by her desire to protect her fragile son, Frankie. Her fears bring out her capacity for ruthlessness whileOlivia’s trusting nature leaves her ill-prepared. The consequences of the betrayals that take place in the opening chapters resound through the novel.
Your breakthrough came with The Winter House. How did that success shape your writing journey?
The Winter House was my sixth novel. It went into the bestseller lists both in the UK and Germany; this hugely altered my writing journey, giving me the confidence to believe that I was on the right track. Iknew there were readers who loved my heroines and heroes as I did andenjoyedbecoming immersed in the worlds I create.It was a privilege to have contact with readers who loved the book, and it gave me a level of professional and financial security. I’d been writing for around a decade and success gave me permission to focus on my writing career.
Catching the Tide intertwines romance and tragedy. How do you balance these elements to maintain reader engagement?
I like happy endings! There are enough hardships and tragedies in the world, and part of my purpose is to give readers a break – yes, an escape. Duringchallenging times in my own life reading fiction has been a lifesaver. But I also want my work to be an honest reflection of life, especially women’s lives.Absence and loss are a part of life and so they feature in my work. By identifying with a fictional character or finding emotions in common with her, a reader knows she is not alone.I find writing romantic scenes hugely satisfying and enjoyable, andI want the reader to come away frommy novels feeling positive. I hope I get the balance right.
Your novels feature strong female protagonists. What draws you to write about women’s resilience and relationships?
I like my heroines to have a lot to contend with; they are survivors who protect their families, find fulfilment and never lose their zest for life and love. I come from a family of strong women – my mother was a scientist in an era when very few women were able to follow such a career, and many of my father’s forebears worked in the Lancashire cloth mills. You needed to be tough to survive that. They lived through world wars and struggled to have access to education and healthcare, and yet with enormous resilience they tried to improve their lives and those of their children.
The settings in your novels, like Florence and the East Anglian Fens, are vividly described. How do you research and select these locations?
The first time I visited Florence I was completely blown away. There was something beautiful wherever I looked. Years laterI used it as a setting in Catching the Tide. The Fens are close to home and this changeable, fragile land has always fascinated me, so I’ve set several novelsthere.
I often choose a setting that will reflect or intensify a character or situation. The beautiful National Trust property, Coleton Fishacre, was the inspiration for Rosindell in One Last Dance.The home of my hero Devlin, Rosindell is both his haven and his curse. Isolated places can be a sanctuary(Owlscote in The Shadow Child) or enable cruelty (Nineveh in Before the Storm).A setting needs to inspire and resonate with me. Nothing substitutes for seeing it first-hand. Standout research trips include a stay in a tea-planter’s bungalow high in the mountains of Sri Lanka for All My Sisters. It doesn’t always work smoothly – a visit to New England to research locations for The Turning Point was cancelled because of a hurricane!
What advice would you offer to aspiring authors looking to craft compelling historical fiction?
Have a go! You can’t know what you are capable of until you try. Keep the pace up and contrast compelling key scenes with more reflective passages. Research thoroughly, choose a period in which to write that fascinates you and create believable and engaging characters. If your readers care about your characters they will keep turning the pages.
