Maureen Peters (3 March 1935 – 8 April 2008) was a historical novelist, under her own name and pseudonyms such as Veronica Black, Catherine Darby, Belinda Gray, Levanah Lloyd, Judith Rothman, Elizabeth Law and Sharon Whitby.
She was born in Caernarvon, North Wales. She was educated at grammar school and attended the University College of North Wales, Bangor, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a diploma of Education. For some time she taught disabled children, and then took up writing. She has produced many books and contributed short stories to many magazines.[1]
Peters is also known as a Bronte scholar.[2][3]
Maureen Peters was married and divorced twice; she had a son and two daughters.
She died on 8 April 2008.
Her novels have often focused on royalty, mostly the War of the Roses and Tudor period, and cover the lives of Elizabeth I of England, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Mary Tudor, Queen of France, as well as of other famous and less famous historical figures such as Edward II of England, the many Queen consorts of various Kings of England.[4][5] Apart from biographical fiction on royalty (written under her own name), she also wrote Gothic romances, family sagas, Mills & Boon series titles, contemporary mysteries.
In her novel Anne, Rose of Hever (1970) Peters depicted Anne Boleyn as a secret pagan who is popularly suspected of being a witch. Peters based Anne, Rose of Hever on the theories of Margaret Murray.[6]
The Vinegar Trilogy: