I've never read anything by her, but as a fan of this genre, I'm aware of her immense popularity as an author. I know she has a plethora of different series. Does it matter if I read them in series' chronological order, historical order by each individual book, or just go ahead and read them in any order at all?

This is a blog that Susan Higgenbotham started. http://plentyaboutplaidy.blogspot.com/http://plentyaboutplaidy.blogspot.com/

I have lots of Jean Plaidy and I don't think you need to read them in order. They can be standalone. Some are not as good as others, there are better historical fiction writers out there but hers are generally shorter and to the point. My favorites are Courts of Love (story of Eleanor of Aquataine, Reluctant Queen (Anne of York) and the Lucrezia Borgia books. I have lots more to read. Sometime I find them in used book stores cheap.

Alice

I've enjoyed them all-read many back in high school!  Never thought that it was "historical fiction" just a pseudo of an author I enjoyed.  Favorites are her Stuarts-because it's a period that appeals to me.   

I read a lot of Plaidy as a young teen, and now and then I pick them back up. I think she has solid research and the storylines are interesting.  

Jean Plaidy's been one of my favorite authors for years, so I would definitely recommend picking one up!  If you're already familiar with the history, then it wouldn't be a problem for you to read one as a standalone story.  For the most part, each book follows her main character from childhood to death.  However, if you're reading it to brush up on your history (as I tend to do), some books definitely work better as a set.  For example, I never read the book on Stephen and Matilda without reading Henry I's first, and Edward III reigned for so long that some of his story is in Richard II's book.

each series is stand alone, but i would collect all in a series and start at the first one.  the reason for this is there are so many henry's, williams, katherine's etc.that it can get confusing, at least for me, trying to figure out which Henry there are talking about right now.

Eleanor Hibbert (the real person behind the Jean Plaidy pseudonym) also wrote series under the names Phillipa Carr and Victoria Holt.  The Holt books are all stand-alone gothic mystery/romances - think a brooding old mansion on a cliff above the wild sea owned by a tormented nobleman who falls for the governess type stories.  The Carr books are a continuing series loosely following a family from one generation to another.  They could be read separately - that is, out of order, but they're more interesting and easier to follow if you read them in order.