Anthology of World War I Literature for Children (essay – edited by Michael Morpurgo, Jonathan Cape, 2014) People don’t want to read a book about the refugee crisis, but they can fall in love with characters and feel their hearts broken when they have to flee their homes and have nowhere to live Mosse has, for many years, been a full-throated advocate for the power of books and reading to provide fulfilment, entertainment and education. Perhaps her greatest achievement beyond her own fiction is her creation, in 1996, of what is now the Women’s Prize for Fiction; its winners have included the very first, the late Helen Dunmore, Carol Shields, Zadie Smith, Eimear McBride and the recently victorious – and two-time winner – Barbara Kingsolver. Now, with Mosse as founder director, it has just launched its inaugural nonfiction prize, as a response to research showing that women who write nonfiction are less likely to be reviewed, to be shortlisted or win prizes, than their male counterparts. The work of ensuring that women writers’ work is judged on a level playing field continues.

Mosse includes all the ingredients you would expect from a historical epic – murder, treachery, lost children, stolen relics, buried secrets. - Stephanie Merritt, Observer Carcassonne, 1562: 19-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter at her father’s bookshop. Sealed with a distinctive family crest, it contains just five words: "She Knows That You Live". But before Minou can decipher the mysterious message, a chance encounter with a young Huguenot convert, Piet Reydon, changes her destiny forever. For Piet has a dangerous mission of his own, and he will need Minou’s help if he is to get out of La Cité alive. But her years of caring for family members have also paid another, perhaps unexpected, dividend. “I’m aware that some of the scenes I write in my fiction have been absolutely given more depth because of the emotions that I have experienced in real life. None of my characters are me, none of the characters are doing things that I want to do or wish to do. But the emotions that go into a novel, they come from somewhere, don’t they?”Mosse’s narrative lyricism, beautifully drawn female characters and deft journey from the past to the present day are a cut above - Scotland on Sunday Every inch a classic Mosse novel, The City of Tears is diligently researched, beautifully written and, crucially right now, both substantial and immersive – if you want to leave twenty-first-century pandemic Britain behind, this should be your preferred mode of transport - Radio Times A gorgeously written, utterly absorbing epic and, despite being set in the sixteenth century, has some very pertinent messages for our time about the evils of religious persecution and the transcendent power of love and family. In case it’s not clear enough yet, I absolutely LOVED it - Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party Welcome to #WomanInHistory, the global campaign to honour and celebrate the incredible women of the past in whose footsteps we walk. The campaign began during the publication week for my latest novel, The City of Tears, at a FANE event on 20 January 2021. In an event with Jojo Moyes - with special guests Bernardine Evaristo, Ken Follett, Lee Child, Bettany Hughes, Paula Hawkins, Anita Anand, Sara Collins, Professor Kate Williams, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Madeline Miller and Damian Barr - we invited everyone to nominate a woman from history they wanted to champion or thought should be better known. I’m delighted to say there will now be a book – publishing in October 2022 – and a television documentary series inspired by the campaign.

Writer Kate Mosse, founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction, and actor Stanley Tucci attend the 2023 winner's ceremony at Bedford Square Gardens, London on June 14th. Photograph: Ian West/PA Wire. Bringing 16th century Languedoc vividly to life, Kate Mosse's The Burning Chambers is a gripping story of love and betrayal, mysteries and secrets; of war and adventure, conspiracies and divided loyalties....

Kate Mosse's Languedoc trilogy books in order

A gorgeously written, utterly absorbing epic and, despite being set in the sixteenth century, has some very pertinent messages for our time about the evils of religious persecution and the transcendent power of love and family. In case it’s not clear enough yet, I absolutely LOVED it - Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Hunting Party and The Paris Apartment, on The City of Tears Gripping, thrilling, a spectacular work of scholarly reimagining, The Ghost Ship is a beautiful book about two women, about love, courage, suffering, and a world in which everything was on a knife edge. A stunning novel, a whole world recreated - Kate Williams, historian and author of Rival Queens To fill out whatever time is left in her schedule, she also writes plays, and sits as the president of the arts festival and the patron of the flower festival in her native Chichester, where she lives with her husband, Greg. Deft touches show a mastery of preparation, suspension and resolution within the historical thriller form - Financial Times