Melissa Addey

Author of historical fiction and non fiction. I mainly write historical fiction, inspired by what I call ‘the footnotes of history’: forgotten stories or part-legends about interesting people. My first two series are set in very different eras: 18th century China, following the lives of concubines in the Forbidden City, and 11th century North Africa, following the rise of a Muslim Empire across Morocco and Spain. My first novel, The Fragrant Concubine, was Editor’s Choice at the Historical Novel Society and The Cold Palace won the 2019 Novel London award. If you’d like to try my writing, pick up a free novella, The Cup. I’m currently writing a series set in 1st century AD Rome, following the backstage team of the Colosseum. The first book, From the Ashes, was Editor’s Choice at the Historical Novel Society. I also get curious about other subjects and have written non-fiction books including 100 Things to do while Breastfeeding and The Happy Commuter, featured on BBC Radio and in The Evening Standard. I wrote a 20min sci-fi radio play which was chosen for the 2019 Page to Podcast competition and produced by the Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts. You can listen to Fixed here.