'I’m passionate about telling women’s stories': Sarah Ferguson to launch Mills & Boon book club
Sarah, Duchess of York is to launch a Historical Romance Book Club with publisher Mills & Boon.
The ex-wife of the Duke of York, 62, released her first fictional historical romance novel, titled Her Heart For A Compass, with the publisher in August.
The duchess said: “I am so excited to launch a historical romance book club with my publisher Mills & Boon.
“Like them, I’m passionate about telling women’s stories, giving those who have been silenced a voice and promoting women’s literacy.
“Too often, women’s lives can be overlooked by history. In my debut novel Her Heart For A Compass, I brought one such woman – my great-great aunt Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas-Scott – to life.
“Now I want to celebrate other authors who are telling women’s stories. I hope that the book club readers will be entertained, enlightened and empowered by the novels that we are going to read together.”
Her first book, which draws on Sarah’s own life journey and incorporates research into her ancestry, is a fictional account of the life of the duchess’s great-great-aunt Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas-Scott.
It was co-written with Marguerite Kaye, who has written more than 50 historical romances set in a variety of eras.
The duchess has said she is "thrilled" to be working with Mills & Boon, the renowned publisher of romantic fiction.
She heaped praise on the "extraordinary" places the company's storytelling has taken readers over its more than 100-year-history.
Welcoming the public to join in, Sarah said there will be a reading and discussion of a new historical romance every month- an event she says will add some light relief after the difficult times experienced over the pandemic.
The announcement draws attention, albeit directly, to Fergie’s former husband Prince Andrew, with whom she still shares a house at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.
Prince Andrew must be questioned under oath by Virginia Giuffre's lawyers in her civil sexual assault case by mid-July of next year, a US judge ruled this week.
He strenuously denies the claims made against him by Ms Giuffre.
The Duchess of York is due to publish her second historical romance novel, which will again be co-written with Kaye, in 2022.
It will “build on the world of Her Heart for a Compass”, Mills & Boon said.
The book club, due to launch on November 5, will see the duchess select one Mills & Boon historical romance title each month.
She will announce the selection on her social media platforms and provide details of the book throughout the month to encourage her followers to read along individually or with their own book club.
The duchess, who has a life-long passion for historical research and telling the stories of strong women in history, will then share her thoughts on the book choice at the end of the month.