Anglican women novelists

Im reading a selection of essays on Anglican women novelists. Hope to blog about it later. One of the earliest of them is Charlotte Bronte. Others include the children's writer Noel Streatfeild, Rose Macaulay, who wrote Towers of Trebizond, Charlotte Yonge, who is a famous Anglo Catholic writer, and also the crime writer PD James. My old favourite Dorothy Sayers is in there, as she wrote about religious themes and was a lay theologian. Barbara Pym is well known for writing about "churchy ladies" who hang around the church and the vicar. Another one, whom I dont know well, is Elizabeth Goudge who was from the Channel Islands. I know a little about Evelyn Underhill, who wrote studies of mysticism in religion.. but I did not know she was a novelist as well. More will follow.

Tolka Row

Tolka Row was the first "soap" put out by RTE, the Irish Tv station in the 1960s. Like Coronation Street it was about a working class community and was set in North Dublin. The Tolka is a small river that runs in the area. It had an early acting role for the well known actress Brenda Fricker. It was written by Maura Laverty, who was a journalist and novelist. She wrote plays about working class Dublin and the serial grew out of the plays. She sympathised with the poor and was a very talented writer. I can remember it from childhood... but a few years later, RTE moved on to a rural "soap", called The Riordans. Tolka Row only ran for a few years, but the Riordans was more long lasting. I think the tapes of it have vanished as the station did not keep them, and often taped over them.

Gillian Bradshaw novels

Im reading a new novel by Gillian Bradshaw. I've read most of her books set in classical times and her Arthur trilogy... I haven't read her novels set in scientific life as yet. But there are two about the Civil war, focussing on Lucy, a young woman who sympathises with the Roundheads in the Civil war. She has a printing press and produces leaflets and papers supporting the anti Cavalier side. I hope to blog about the books soon

Jimmy O'Dea and Maureen Potter

I have just been reading a biography of Jimmy O'Dea, who was a comedian and actor in Ireland in during the 20th century. When I was a kid, my parents would take me every year to the Christmas pantomime, in the Gaiety Theatre. It was great fun, and the star of the show was Maureen Potter who had worked with Jimmy. He created a "dame" character, Mrs Mulligan, who was an old Dublin woman who sold vegetables at a street stall. He was very funny and topical as was Maureen Potter. We didn't get to the theatre much but my parents liked the comedy of the pantomime. As I grew older I began to go to the serious theatre, and dabbled in acting. But my first experiences were at those Christmas pantos. Jimmy died in 1964 and Maureen died some years ago

Frances Hodgson Burnett 1849-1924

Burnett was a well known writer in the Victorian age, whose books for children became best sellers. She was born in Manchester to a business family. In her childhood, the family lost money, after the death of her father. They moved to America, to Tennesee. She liked writing and began to earn some money writing stories... She loved flowers and that led, later to her book The Secret Garden. She grew up partly in Manchester, but had relatives in America who took her in when her family lost its money. Then her uncle's business in Tennessee failed and she was forced to rely on her own resources. She married Swan Burnett, who was training as a doctor, when she was just 22. They spent a couple of years in Paris, where Swan completed his studies. They had two sons, Lionel and Vyvyan, whom she loved and dressed in fancy clothes. They returned to America, and Swan began to make a fair living as a doctor, but they had money problems and Frances continued to write, and earned quite well, but her husband resented her being more successful than him. Tensions built up in her marriage, and she became exhausted with looking after her children, writing and being a literary hostess. In 1884 she wrote her most successful novel Little Lord Fauntleroy, about a child who turns out to be the son of an English lord... While some critics mocked the work, especially the bits about young Cedric wearing velvet suits and having long curls, it sold very well and she was comfortably off. But her elder son Lionel died of TB and her marriage was on a downward slide. She lived partly in England and partly back in America. She and Swan divorced in 1898 - on grounds of desertion by her husband.. but it was a mutual decision. She had met an actor, Stephen Townsend and in her house in England, she moved him in, calling him her secretary. There was gossip about this, and she then married him. But he was much younger than her, and it was clear that he had married her for her money. She soon discovered that the marriage was a big mistake. Another of her better known novels was Sara Crew, also known as The Little Princess. It is a story about a young girl whose father has to go away, and he puts her in a girls' school. Sara then learns that her father has died, and she is left very poor. Her headmistress keeps her but makes her take on the duties of a servant. Sara retains her dignity and shows that she is a "little princess" in character.

Publishing stories - Update

Due to illness I've had to stop publishing my stories at present. I'll update in case people would like to read some of them. Still ill....

Roman Bride

Its a short story, by Nadine Sutton available on Amazon. A story of a British soldier, part of King Arthur's band, who marries a Roman lady. She finds that one of the women in the Fort seems to be chasing her husband.