Bio

Charlotte Betts is a multi-award-winning author of ten romantic historical novels published by Piatkus. Her books are set in various eras between the Restoration and the Great War and she draws inspiration from the stories of strong women at turning points in history. Careful historical research enriches her writing with an evocative sense of time and place. The third volume of the Spindrift Trilogy, set in an artists’ community in Cornwall at the beginning of the twentieth century was published in January 2022 and Charlotte’s current work in progress is the first of three books set in Italy after the Great War.

A member of The Romantic Novelists’ Association, The Society of Authors and The Historical Novel Society, Charlotte loves to share her knowledge and has given talks and workshops on writing, both at conferences and to smaller groups.

 Charlotte lives on the Hampshire/Berkshire borders in a C17th cottage in the woods. A daydreamer and a bookworm, she enjoyed careers in fashion, interior design and property before discovering her passion for writing historical novels.

Romantic Novelists’ Association

Professional Reader

The Apothecary’s Daughter (Piatkus 2011) won the YouWriteOn Adult Book of the Year Award 2010, the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Joan Hessayon Award 2011 and the RoNA’s Historical Category award for 2013. The sequel, The Painter’s Apprentice (2012) was shortlisted for the Festival of Romance’s Best Historical Read Award. The Spice Merchant’s Wife (2013) won the Festival of Romance’s Best Historical Read Award. The Chateau on the Lake was published in 2014 and The House in Quill Court in 2016. The Dressmaker’s Secret followed in May 2017. The Palace of Lost Dreams was shortlisted for the RoNA’s in 2019. The Fading of the Light was shortlisted for the RoNAs in 2022.

Vivaldi and Violets was published in the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Fiftieth Anniversary Anthology, Loves Me, Loves Me Not in 2009.

9 thoughts on “Bio”

  1. Congratulations on your award win at the RNA from your growing fanbase – very impressive debut novel, good luck

  2. Congratulations on winning the RNA Joan Hessayon award.

    I can’t wait to get hold of my copy.

  3. Congratulations on your award. Your supreme talent is finally being recognised. I’m excited for the future!

  4. Hello Charlotte

    I have just finished reading your book The Apothecarys Daughter. Thanks for a wonderful history of the time and place, and a great story as well. I enjoyed it immensely. I am an avid fan of historical novels and I have a great interest in the UK prior to the 1880’s when by then most of my ancestors had left the home country and travelled to either Australia or New Zealand. I usually read Novels dated around the late 18th Century / Early-Mid 19th Century to get an idea of what life was like for them growing up. It is unusual for me to choose a novel set in the 1660’s but I have to say it was the author’s name that appealed to me. My Great Great Grandfather was a Charles Betts growing up in the Limehouse/Bethnal Green area of London. And I guess I choose it wondering if perhaps your husbands family was related to us in some ways. Who knows? Anyway I am so pleased that I did and am wondering if you could give me a list of other historical novels you have written.

    Best wishes
    Jennie Marsh

    • Hello Jennie
      It’s fascinating to find out about the times our ancestors lived in, isn’t it? My brother is currently researching my father’s family, some of whom emigrated to New Zealand. My husband isn’t aware of any of his relatives coming from the Bethnal Green/Limehouse area but who knows! A friend of mine, Jean Fullerton, writes wonderful novels set in the Victorian period in the East End of London that might appeal to you. The sequel to The Apothecary’s Daughter, called The Painter’s Apprentice, takes place about twenty years afterwards. My latest novel, The Spice Merchant’s Wife, will be published in August and a ten thousand word short story on Arabella’s adventures, after she escapes over the rooftops from the old apothecary shop, will be available as an e-book in early October. I’m currently researching a novel set at the time of the French Revolution.

  5. Dear Charlotte,your books are outstanding in historical content fact and fiction. I love historical novels and an avid reader of many, i consider yours to be the best i have read. They have transported me back in time to another era. Thank you for the sheer enjoyment of reading, you are truly a gifted writer. Any one of your books would make an epic television drama. Best wishes and kind regards Kathy Sims.

    • Dear Kathy, you have absolutely made my day by your very kind words! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know you enjoy my writing. Perhaps you would like to know that the next novel, The Dressmaker’s Secret, will be published in May 2017.

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