Kate Quinn


Kate Quinn is an American writer, known for her works of historical fiction.

Early life and education

Quinn was born and raised in Long Beach, California. She graduated from Boston University with a BA and a master's degree in classical voice.

Career

Quinn's novels often focus on women's unexpected roles in history such as military snipers, spies, and code breakers. Booklist's starred review notes that her 2024 book The Briar Club is a "compulsively readable" book that would be well received by "those who love woman-led historical fiction with rich, appealing characters."
Her works have been set in several historical eras, including five novels that take place during the Roman Empire, two books about the Borgias in the Italian Renaissance, and most recently a series of novels set in the 1940s and 1950s, centering on the events during and after the Second World War.
She has also contributed to a series of historical novels that were collaboratively written with 5-6 other authors, in which each author wrote a separate chapter presenting a different character's voice, which together make up a single overlapping story. The first of these, A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii is in development for a limited series from Amazon studios.

Reception

Quinn's 2017 historical fiction novel, The Alice Network, was a New York Times ''USA Today bestseller, and a National Public Radio Selection on "Books We Loved". Her 2019 follow-up, The Huntress, earned positive reviews in The Washington Post and Kirkus Reviews, and was also a New York Times bestseller. Her novels The Rose Code and The Diamond Eye were also New York Times bestsellers. In 2024, both The Phoenix Crown and The Briar Club'' made the NPR "Books We Loved" list.

Personal life

Quinn resides with her husband in Maryland.

Novels

The Empress of Rome Series

  • Mistress of Rome
  • Daughters of Rome
  • Empress of the Seven Hills
  • The Three Fates
  • ''Lady of the Eternal City''

    The Borgia Chronicles

  • The Serpent and the Pearl
  • ''The Lion and the Rose''

    Other novels

  • The Alice Network
  • The Huntress
  • The Rose Code
  • The Diamond Eye
  • The Phoenix Crown
  • ''The Briar Club''

    Collaboratively written novels

  • A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii ISBN 978-0990324577
  • A Year of Ravens: A Novel of Boudica's Rebellion ISBN 978-1517635411
  • A Song of War: A Novel of Troy ISBN 978-1536931853
  • Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution's Women ISBN 978-0062952196