Thanks, J :)

She writes excellently characterised historically rooted fiction, sometimes unfairly demeaned by a 'chicklit' label. Her ear for dialoguue is good. Her two novels about Tradescant are wonderful (The Virgin Earth and sumtin else!) and her novels about the court of Henry 8 and the rise to power of his daughters Mary and Elizabeth are superb, imho. The ones I am reading now are a trio set around the times of the Great Enclosures - good background, but a bit too much rippped bodice for my taste.

The bonus to a cracking yarn is that each book has at least one unusual usage that gets me off on a bit of research....!