Nancy Bilyeau

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Nancy Bilyeau

Goodreads Author


Born
in Chicago, Illinois, The United States
February 07

Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences

Member Since
June 2011


Nancy Bilyeau loves crafting immersive historical stories, whether it's Jazz Age New York City in "The Orchid Hour," the 18th-century Gothic manors, salons, and porcelain workshops in "The Versailles Formula," or Henry VIII's tumultuous England in "The Crown."

A magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of "Rolling Stone," "Good Housekeeping," and "Entertainment Weekly," Nancy draws on her journalism experience to research her books.

For her Genevieve Planche novels--"The Blue", "The Fugitive Colours", and "The Versailles Formula"--she also draws on her heritage to create a Huguenot heroine. Nancy is a descendant of Pierre Billiou, a French Huguenot who immigrated to what was then New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1661. Pierre's stone
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Popular Answered Questions

Nancy Bilyeau Hi Danielle: Sorry to only answer this now! I'm not notified when there are answers, and I just discovered it today. Yes, I am more than one-third of …moreHi Danielle: Sorry to only answer this now! I'm not notified when there are answers, and I just discovered it today. Yes, I am more than one-third of the way through my fourth novel. It is not a Joanna Stafford novel, it is not about nuns or friars, and it doesn't have any mystical element. However, it IS set in the past, the main character is a woman, it is suspenseful, and there are elements of art and science in the plot. :) (less)
Nancy Bilyeau I listen to music, or take a long walk sometimes while listening to music. That can provoke ideas. But also I am a longtime magazine writer and editor…moreI listen to music, or take a long walk sometimes while listening to music. That can provoke ideas. But also I am a longtime magazine writer and editor, and with deadlines constantly coming, we learn how to work with writer's block. It is key to just get some words out, knowing that they won't be good but that you can go back and revise. I've revised some paragraphs five or six times--or more--to get the writing to where I want it to be.(less)
Average rating: 3.89 · 15,510 ratings · 2,363 reviews · 18 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Crown (Joanna Stafford,...

3.84 avg rating — 4,341 ratings — published 2012 — 47 editions
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The Blue (Genevieve Planché...

3.89 avg rating — 3,582 ratings — published 2018 — 8 editions
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Dreamland

3.85 avg rating — 2,724 ratings — published 2020 — 6 editions
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The Chalice (Joanna Staffor...

3.87 avg rating — 1,921 ratings — published 2013 — 30 editions
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The Tapestry (Joanna Staffo...

4.01 avg rating — 1,021 ratings — published 2015 — 16 editions
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The Fugitive Colours (Genev...

3.97 avg rating — 552 ratings — published 2022 — 4 editions
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The Ghost of Madison Avenue

3.94 avg rating — 527 ratings — published 2019 — 4 editions
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The Orchid Hour

4.06 avg rating — 498 ratings — published 2023 — 5 editions
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THE GENEVIEVE PLANCHÉ COLLE...

4.31 avg rating — 67 ratings
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The Versailles Formula (Gen...

4.68 avg rating — 28 ratings — expected publication 2025 — 2 editions
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A New Design for My Genevieve Planché Series

After I turned in my final edits on The Versailles Formula, I felt a tug of excitement over seeing what cover design my publisher's designer had created for the novel. Both The Blue and The Fugitive Colours displayed lovely covers, and I was curious to see the plan for the third in the series.

To my surprise, my editor emailed me that the team at Joffe Books had come up with a bold new idea: to red

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Published on April 03, 2025 06:09
The Crown The Chalice The Tapestry
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The Blue The Fugitive Colours The Versailles Formula
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A Caribbean Mystery
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The Best We Could...
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A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
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In Harm's Way by Viveca Sten
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The suspense in this one was high and I thought it began quite well. I always appreciate the details like there are more than 15 types of herring at a Christmas Eve feast in Sweden. But I have some issues here. One was that Nora Linde was not pulled ...more
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The Stars and Their Light by Olivia Hawker
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The Stars and Their Light is a luminous, exquisitely crafted novel. With elegant, evocative prose, Olivia Hawker dives into the events of Roswell in 1947, weaving a tale that blurs the boundaries between history, myth, and the unknowable. As an unide ...more
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In the Shadow of Power by Viveca Sten
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In the Heat of the Moment by Viveca Sten
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Tonight You’re Dead by Viveca Sten
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In Harm's Way by Viveca Sten
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The suspense in this one was high and I thought it began quite well. I always appreciate the details like there are more than 15 types of herring at a Christmas Eve feast in Sweden. But I have some issues here. One was that Nora Linde was not pulled ...more
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Letters from the Dead by Isabella Valeri
Letters from the Dead
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This novel is exactly what I like! It's a little similar to Donna Tartt's The Secret History in the second half and some other reviewers prefer the second half, but I really enjoyed the first half, which is at this bizarre estate of an extremely weal ...more
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Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier
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Quotes by Nancy Bilyeau  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“When a burning is announced, the taverns off Smithfield Square order extra barrels of ale, but when the person to be executed is a woman and one of noble birth, the ale comes by the cartload.”
Nancy Bilyeau, The Crown

“It wasn’t until the twelfth century that blue found a place on artists’ palettes, when they began to create it through grinding up certain stones. Every Madonna in a medieval painting wore blue robes, every stained glass window contained blue. It’s as if all men decided, at once, that blue was the color of…” I mull the right word… “the divine.”
Nancy Bilyeau, The Blue

“The human heart is always drawn by love.' He hesitated again. It's you, he said. I am in love with you.”
Nancy Bilyeau, The Chalice

Polls

September 2013: HF Series Read

 
  5 votes 25.0%

 
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  3 votes 15.0%

 
  2 votes 10.0%

 
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  1 vote 5.0%

 
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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Next Best Boo...: First Reads books 528 1297 Aug 26, 2013 11:08AM  
“[I]f I were turned out of the realm in my petticoat I were able to live in any place in Christendom.”
Elizabeth I Tudor

“When a burning is announced, the taverns off Smithfield Square order extra barrels of ale, but when the person to be executed is a woman and one of noble birth, the ale comes by the cartload.”
Nancy Bilyeau, The Crown

“A faint acrid smell drifted in through the window, from the cannon fire. But through it all the walls of my prison cell never trembled. The walls of the Tower are the thickest in the land and they never, ever tremble”
Nancy Bilyeau, The Crown

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Comments (showing 1-8)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

message 8: by L

L Dear Nancy.
I would like to thank you so much for being my friend here on GoodReads. I look forward to reading some of your work, which really apeals to me as i love this genre.
Kind Regards
Lucinda x


Kimberly Thank you for adding me as a friend Nancy!


message 6: by Peg

Peg Brantley Thanks for your Goodreads friendship, Nancy.


Christine Hatfield thanks for being my friend


message 4: by Nancy

Nancy Bilyeau Thank you, Barbara!! Let's pray that people buy it. :)


Barbara Sachs Kudos, Nancy! I saw your "Oprah" review. I'm so happy talent is appreciated
and "The Crown" will have the wide audience it deserves.
Barbara


message 2: by Nancy

Nancy Bilyeau Doug wrote: "First time to see your cover. Wow! S&S did a great job!"

Thanks Doug. Yes I am very very happy with the cover. When it is completely ready, I will share with everyone!


message 1: by Doug

Doug Solter First time to see your cover. Wow! S&S did a great job!


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