Rosemary Sutcliffe

 Rosemary Sutcliffe was a historical fiction writer who wrote for both children and adults.  Many of her novels were based in Romano British Britain, during the Roman occupation or after it. I have liked her because her work included a well known Arthurian novel, Sword at Sunset.  Her hero, Arthur or Artos, is fighting against the Saxons who are trying to take over Britain.  Unlike more recent writers from the 1980s onward, she concentrates on Arthur himself, as a soldier and king.. and she is less concerned with the women of the saga.

Sutcliff's novel does involve an incestous relationship between Arthur and his half sister Ygerna, though he does  not know she is his sister.  He then marries Guenhumara, (Guenevere) but their marriage becomes unhappy after their baby dies and Arthur cannot make love to her.  She turns to Bedwyr, Arthur's friend for consolation. 

Rosemary Sutcliffe was born in 1920 in Surrey, but had  an illness which confined her to a wheelchair a lot of the time. Her father was in the army and she was brought up by her mother who told her a lot of the Celtic legends that she worked into her stories. 

She was devoted to her work; she never married or had children, and died in 1992, still writing. 

The July Plot against Hitler

 In July 1944 the most famous and nearly successful plot to kill Hitler occurred.  The particpants tried to kill Hitler and then to use a plan code named Valkyrie, to take over the organs of government, including the reserve army, and to arrest the Nazi leadership and sue for peace with the Allies.  The leading light was Claus Von Stauffenberg, a conservative but honourable man from an aristocratic background, who had been severely wounded during his time in Africa.  He was supported by other army officers, but the more senior German officers were horrified at the idea of mutiny. He was a Roman Catholic from Bavaria, and while he had a lot of the prejudices of the upper classes,  he was horrified by Hitler's actions, particularly in regard to the Jews and he was prepared to work with people from the other side of the political divide, such as socialists, to get rid of the Nazis and restore Germany to a civilised state.  He and his 3 brothers all joined in the Plot, realising that they had to act before Germany was considered beyond redemption. 

On 20 July 1944, after a couple of abortive attempts to kill Hitler, Stauffenberg carried a bomb into the briefing room, where he was due to take part in a conference with Hitler but the briefcase which contained the bomb was moved and the Fuhrer was not seriously injured.  His co conspirators were slow to put the Valkyrie plan into action and lost precious time which allowed the Nazis to re group.  Stauffenberg and many others were executed, and the  War lasted for another year.

Beds and Blue Jeans

 Beds and Blue Jeans is a light hearted story, about a young couple in present day America, and how they start living together and learn to love each other....  Its available on Amazon.  Sam is in the music business and finds his girlfriend rather silly and boring; he meets a lot of women as the singer in a small band, and enjoys himself while frequently complaining about home life and how hard it is to cope with a girl and a small baby.   But over time he and his girlfriend come to love each other. 

Sharan Newman

 Sharan Newman is an American author, born in Michigan in 1949.  Her father was in the US Air Force.  She studied medieval history and married a physicist.. and uses her married name as a writer.  

Her first novels were a trilogy on the Arthurian story, largely focussing on Guinevere.  Guinevere is of Roman descent, and marries Arthur but falls in love with Lancelot.  Her novels came out in the early 1980s, after Marion Bradley wrote Mists of Avalon.  That novel was largely focussing on the women in the Arthurian saga and writing from a women centred, non Christian viewpoint.  It set off a trend for writing about the women in the story rather than Arthur and the men.  Newman also wrote historical mysteries set in France in the time of Abelard and Heloise. 

Rough Music

 A story set in Nashville, and the US, in the 1970s, about a country rock band.  Its about friends who are trying to make it big in the music world.. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Music-Nadine-Sutton-ebook/dp/B01AEQS0G0/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2E0CGQHSW4I3F&keywords=nadine+sutton&qid=1661336559&sprefix=nadine+sutton%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-2

Persia Woolley

 Persia Woolley was an American author who was best known for her Arthurian trilogy of novels.  She was born in California in 1935 and went to college, studying architecture.  She married  James Woolley,  and began to write novels.  She had 2 daughters, and was a single mother for some time.  She later remarried to a Dr Garvin.  She died in 2017.

I've enjoyed her novels which are based on Guenevere, more than Arthur.  Guenevere is a pagan princess from the North of Britain who marries Arthur and grows to love him but also loves Lancelot.. with whom she has an affair.   But Arthur's sister Morgan who hates him, causes trouble and strife, and Guenevere goes into a convent for the rest of her life.  

Woolley was not British but she was an imaginative and intelligent writer.  She gives a picture of Dark Age Britain with its ethnic mixture of Celts, Romans and Saxons who have been moving into the country.  

Jane Austen and names

 I've always loved names and I love Jane Austen.  So I have wondered about the names that she uses in her novels.  

Unlike some of the 18th century novelists, her names for her women characters are very plain and ordinary.  Other novelists used fancier names like Clarissa and Pamela, but Austens heroines are simpler names like Elizabeth, Anne, Emma, Elinor, Marianne and Catherine.  Her Bennet sisters have all got plain names except for Lydia.  her name is from the bible, meaning woman of Lydia, but the other girls are Jane, Elizabeth, Mary and Catherine.  All of these are simple English names.   Jane means God is gracious, Mary means swelling, which has an indication of pregnancy, and Catherine means pure.  Elizabeth means God has sworn and was for a time the  most popular girls name in England. 

Austen's other heroines also have plain names.  Anne Elliott, Elinor Dashwood, Fanny Price, and Catherine Morland and Emma Woodhouse.  Emma means whole or entire.  Frances or Fanny means Frankish. Catherine means pure and Elinor is an old English name of long standing but obscure origin. 

Her male characters mostly have plain names as well.  Fitzwilliam Darcy is a obviously romantic and aristocratic name but there is Mr Knightley, who is plain George... which means earth.. and he is a farming squire.  Her other heroes are Edward, Edmund, Frederick and Henry.....

Penmarric Jan's narration again

 Jan tries to advise Rebecca, telling her the best thing is to go to London, consult a doctor and have the operation done privately.  She is afraid because abortion is against the law.  Jan tells her that that's the best advice he can give her.. but a few days later, he gets a call from Rebecca's daughter Deborah.  Its obvious that she went for a backstreet abortion and is now very ill.  She dies, calling for Hugh. Jan is very upset, realising that although he did love Rebecca, her heart was with Hugh. 

After Rebecca's death, Jan begins to think about the upcoming war.  He worries about leaving Isabella, who is young and flighty but when the war breaks out, he joins the army and so does his nephew Esmond.  

He continues to worry about Penmarric, his elderly mother and his wife, but then his sister Mariana, who has developed a drink problem after an unhappy marriage, kills herself.  Jan and Esmond get leave to attend the funeral.  When he goes home, he finds that Jonas who has turned into a sullen unpleasant young lad, has been bohtering Janna, pestering her for money and saying that he will reveal that Jan was the father of her baby whom she aborted.  During the leave time Jan decides that he has to sort out his nephew. 

He invites Jonas to the house and begins to bawl him out, Jonas says that Janna gives him money because she knows that Jan made her pregnant and treated her badly and caused her to have the abortion that killed her. Jan tells him this is not at all true, and uneasily realises that Jonas is now a sturdy lad of 16 and could hurt him if they fight. THey start a fight but Jan knocks his nephew down and he hits his head. He realises that the boy is dead. Janna comes in and they decide to cover up what has happened... because Jan is innocent. It was an accident. They manage to work out a plan, puncturing Jonas' bike to make it seem as if he has to walk home, and then Jan disposes of the body down a mine adit - Since the mine is now long closed it will never be opened, and Jan can ensure his safety for his lifetime. He goes backt to war, feeling guilty about Jonas' death and prays for a just punishment.. He and Isabella have been trying to have a baby, but soon after he gets back to his regiment, she writes to say that their brief time in Penmarric has not produced a pregnancy. Then his punishment arrives. He is taken prisoner and spends months in captivity. He finds it uncomfortable and very boring, but he accepts it as making up for his violent act against Jonas. Letters arrive from home, and people he knows tell him that Jonas has disappeared, and his bike has been found. Its believed that perhaps he just left Cornwall.. or that he might have had an accident.. but there is no sign of him. Simon Roslyn, Jonas' cousin, a lawyer, who has never liked Jan, says that he wants to investigate as he does not believe the boy would have abandoned his bike, nor run away. He suggests getting a detective to look into matters and Jan agrees, playing along. He gets more depressed as letters from home seem to suggest that Isabella is getting on Ok without him and he fears that she might leave him. He keeps on making the best of prison life, but he is afraid. He organsises games and lessons for the other prisoners, needing to occupy himself. Finally, the war ends and he is repatriated. He arrives in London, fearing that Isabella will not be there. But she is, she welcomes him and they return to Cornwall.....