Join us on our Facebook page at 5:00 pm EST today when we chat with Australian author Tim Darcy Ellis about his historical fiction novel, The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives, which chronicles the adventures of a great (real-life) Spanish humanist and converso as he flees the Inquisition for the Tudor court of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. If you are a fan of Hilary Mantel, Showtime’s The Tudors, or any and all things Renaissance, you won’t want to miss this interview.
Vives, a Spanish Jew, may not be as recognizable a figure as his 16th-century contemporaries such Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas Moore and others, yet he played a huge role in altering the course of history. “I actually found Vives by mistake,” says Ellis. “Like others, I’d never heard of him until I gave a Spanish friend a book about exiles from Spain, and I thumbed through it first and this incredible character leapt out from the pages. Vives was very important in the 16th century but has been largely forgotten by the mainstream — and he really contributed to making the world a better place.”
In Ellis’s novel, Vives has fled Spain to avoid the fires of the Inquisition, yet even in The Netherlands, he discovers he is not safe. When England’s Sir Thomas More offers him the role of tutor to Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, he eagerly accepts. While publicly navigating life as a “New Christian,” Vives is drawn into the secretive and dangerous world of London’s Jewish community. With a foot in each world, he is torn between the love of two women. Will his wily skills allow him to manipulate them both? The survival of his family and his entire people hang in the balance. (Read our review of the novel here.)
Be sure to tune in to learn more about this fascinating personality and the thrilling novel that’s brought him out of the shadows of history.
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About Tim Darcy Ellis:
Tim Darcy Ellis (BA BSc, MHSc) is a writer and physiotherapist. He was formerly a professional archaeologist. Tim’s critically acclaimed debut, The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives, is a fast-paced and meticulously researched historical fiction novel. He is passionate about bringing his love of history, archaeology and philosophy together through his writing.
Tim majored in Medieval Archaeology at the University of York (1988), and he worked for both the Museum of London and the British Museum in the 1990s. He requalified as a physiotherapist at the University of East London (1998). He then moved to Sydney in 2000 where he completed his master’s degree with honors in 2002 (University of Sydney).
