Simone Vilar is well known to admirers of historical love affairs and fascinating stories in the style of Slavic fantasy. She is a talented Ukrainian writer and author of piercing female prose, repeatedly published not only in Ukraine, but also in Russia.
Three names
The biography of Simone Vilar began on May 1, 1965 in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov. The birth certificate indicates the name Natalia Obraztsova. Her father, Georgy Mikhailovich Obraztsov, was an engineer who designed an amphibious machine. Mom taught English. The older brother, Andrei, became a successful artist.
The novelist began to write after marriage, having the surname Gavrilenko, she still appears in her passport. A beautiful and sonorous pseudonym appeared with Natalia in 1994, when she worked at the publishing house "Eye". In those years in the post-Soviet space, books by foreign authors were wildly popular. This is what determines the choice of the French name. Moreover, the first idea was the name of Stephanie Vilar, but Simone seemed more in tune with the surname. Although later the writer admitted that she was embarrassed by the constant comparison with the heroine of the song of the same name by Vladimir Kuzmin.
Choosing a creative path
Natalia was passionate about writing since childhood. She wrote about everything that was happening around. In addition, the writer has always been interested in history. At Kharkov State University, she graduated from the Faculty of History, specializing in the history of the Middle Ages. With great interest in the events of that time, Simone Vilar decided to convey to the readers the scientific and educational information through an artistic presentation.
First steps
For a long time, Vilar wrote to the table. So far, in the hungry 90s, her brother did not show Natalia's work to Andrei Klimov, editor of the Kharkov publishing house. In 1994, the first cycle of books by Simone Vilar "Anna Neville" was released. It consisted of novels:
- "Betrothed with a Rose";
- "The Maker of Kings";
- "Castle on the rock";
- "The severity of the crown."
Books affect the time of the war of the Scarlet and White Roses and describe medieval England. The main character is Anna Neuville - the wife of Richard III and the Queen of England. The circulation of this series sold instantly.
In 1995, Natalia began work on the cycle "Emma Bird". It included:
- "Viking Captive";
- "Viking Princess";
- "Wild Heart";
- "Forest Duchess".
The action of the novels takes place at the beginning of the X century. They describe the love between the main character Emma and the Viking Rollo, who became the first Duke of Normandy.
Both cycles have pleased readers and are still popular. Love lines against the background of historical facts about war and politics attracted the attention of not only the female audience of readers. Also among the fans of the author’s creativity, representatives of a strong half of humanity began to appear.
Creation
After the first success, Natalia Gavrilenko continued writing historical novels. In addition to works on medieval Europe, the writer appeared novels about the events of pre-Christian Russia. Both those and others enjoy constant reader success:
- "Castle of Secrets" - a historical detective story affecting the events of the civil war in England of the seventeenth century;
- Svetorada is a series of three books about the complex and vibrant fate of a Slavic girl;
- "Far Light" - a dilogy describing the love of a noble beauty and an unknown tramp against the backdrop of the civil war in England;
- Shadow of the Sword - three novels describing the times of the Crusades and Richard the Lionheart;
- "Queen in the bargain" - a novel about the French Queen Mary Tudor;
- "Confession of the rival" - an adventure novel about the illegitimate daughter of the king of England and the escaped nun;
- "Stranger" - a novel telling about the capture of the throne of Kiev by Prophetic Oleg;
- Mysgrave is an adventure work about love amid the enmity of two Scottish clans.
Friendship with fantasy
Acquainted with the fantastic works of Olga Grigorieva, Nick Perumov and Elizabeth Dvoretskaya, Vinar was seriously carried away by this genre. And, having decided on an experiment, she wrote a series of books about a woman, Drevlyanka, under the name "Witch". In this series, the writer paid less attention to historical facts, trying to add beauty to the descriptions and dynamism of the plot. The novels turned out to be intriguing, with an unusual interweaving of real historical figures (Prince Igor, Princess Olga, Voivode Sveneld) with fairy-tale characters. Sorcery and magic added a series of attractiveness and gave readers recognition.
Personal life
The personal life of Simone Vilar was not always happy. She met her first husband while studying at the university. Simone recalls that he was a very handsome man, but died in the early 90's. Natalia was left with her little daughter in her arms. The writer parted with her second husband because of the incompatibility of the characters. The third marriage was happy. Over the years, the husband has been sympathetic to the creative activities of his wife and supports her in everything. The husband’s love makes happy eyes that look at fans with photos of Simone Vilar. Since childhood, Simone’s daughter loved to read and wanted to follow in the footsteps of her mother, but made her choice in favor of another direction, becoming a talented economist.
Interests
Despite the fact that the work on the texts takes a lot of time, Simone Vilar loves to read. Her favorite authors: Victor Hugo, Alexei Tolstoy, Honore de Balzac, Sigrid Unset, Valentin Pikul, Boris Akunin, Morris Druon, Elizabeth Dvorzhetskaya. Natalia’s second hobby is traveling. She dreams of traveling around all the places she describes in her novels. The writer likes to chat with friends, listen to music, watch good movies. She likes new experiences. To get them, Simone mastered skiing, cycling and sailing. When asked where she got so much free time, she answers: "I work at night."
Awards
The circulation of books by Simone Vilar has long passed the millionth mark. In addition to the love of readers, she deservedly received many titles and awards:
- Violet crystal - 2009 award for the novel "Svetorada Medovaya", received at the festival "Ayu-Dag Constellation" in Crimea.
- Bast - prize for the first place, which has earned the historical fiction "Princess Witch".
- "The Wind of the North" is recognized as the "Best Domestic Historical Novel".
- "Witch" earned the title of "Best Russian science fiction novel."
- Since 2011, is included in the "TOP 10 most successful writers of Ukraine."
- Award "For a decent performance of Kharkov in science fiction" from the Renaissance Foundation.
- Golden writers of Ukraine - winner of the award since 2012.
- Karamzin Cross - Award for achievements in historical prose.