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... Her Guinevere is of Roman descent, and marries Arthur but falls in love with Lancelot. Her novels came out in the early 1980's, after Marion Bradley wrote Mists of Avalon. That novel was a new development, as it focussed on the women in the Arthurian saga and was written 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. In her books, 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. 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 and Camilla, but Austen's heroines are given 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 girl's 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, that there are ways of doing it safely and getting round the law. But a few days later, he gets a call from Rebecca's daughter, Deborah. Rebecca is very ill. Jan realises that she went for a backstreet abortion, and they did a botched job. She dies, calling for Hugh. Jan is very upset, realising that although he did love Rebecca, her heart was with Hugh and she lost him so young. 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 starts, he joins the army and so does his nephew, Esmond. He continues to worry about Penmarric, his elderly mother and his wife. When he is in training, he is told that his sister Mariana, who has developed a drink problem after an unhappy marriage, has killed herself. Jan and Esmond get leave to attend the funeral. When he returns to Penmarric, he finds that Jonas who has turned into a sullen unpleasant young lad, has been bothering Janna. He pesters her for money, saying that he will reveal that Jan was the father of her baby whom she aborted. She has given him a bit of money because she felt sorry for him. During the leave time, Jan decides that he has to sort out his nephew. He calls Jonas to the farmhouse, and begins to bawl him out. Jonas says that Janna gives him money because she knows that Jan made his mother pregnant. He says Jan 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. He could lose in a fight. He tells Jonas that Rebecca was not a sainted innocent and she was as eager to have an affair as he was. The 2 of them 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 could not ride the bike, and has had to walk home. 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 back 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. It's 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. 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 prisoner of war life, but he is afraid. He organises 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.....

Penmarric Jan's narration 2

Jan renews his affair with Rebecca, Jonas' mother, but he is not sure if he wants to marry her. She has always been reluctant to marry him, claiming that Hugh was the love of her life. Jan finds her exasperating at times, because of her mixed social heritage. She is awkward with the Castallacks because of her farmer father's background and she can be touchy and difficult. Jan also has never liked Jonas..who is a sullen badly behaved child. But he continues with the affair for a time. Then another tragedy strikes. Philip is killed while exploring the old mines with his nephew, Esmond. His death at only 41 is a terrible grief for Janna. It also comes as a shock to Jeanne Castallack, Philip's sister. After her first husband died, she married Donald Macrae, the local doctor. They had only been married a year or so and Jeanne was pregnant with her first child. The shock causes her to go into labour. She has a stillborn child and dies. Jan is very shaken as he has grown much closer to his brother. But he is now master of Penmarric. He has achieved his ambition. However when Rebecca finds that he has cut her son out of the estate, she is furious and breaks off with him. Jan is lonely after this, since his mother does not want to live in Penmarric and remains at Roslyn farm.. He is kept busy with the estate, he feels that he and Rebecca will never get over this break up. Soon afterwards, he meets a young woman, Isabella Clay, some years his junior, who is the daughter of a former army officer. She is very lovely. She is engaged to another man but Jan believes that she is only marrying him to get away from her parents. He persuades her to break off her engagement and marry him instead. Janna is a little wary of Isabella but decides that she genuinely loves Jan and will make him happy. They get married and settle down at Penmarric but war is looming. Jan is very happy with his new wife but he does find on their wedding night that she was not a virgin. So he fears that she might be unfaithful, if she is not kept busy and happy. The couple are busy running the estate and visiting London at times, but then Rebecca reappears in Jan's life. She tells him that she's pregnant. She has had a brief affair with a schoolmaster who had been staying as a summer guest in her farmhouse, and became pregnant. The man has deserted her and she needs help.

Penmarric Jan's narration

Janna comes to see Jan when her older son returns from Canada. She tells him that she wants him to face up to what he's done and come to meet Philip. He says that he can't do that, that he's made a mess of his life. Janna tells him that Philip has returned to Helena, but that she can't have any children so there is still a chance for him to become heir to the estate. She says he is still young and can sort out his mistakes. Jan begins to soften more towards his mother, realising that she loves him.. even if Philip was her favourite. He can see that Philip is ambivalent about being back in Cornwall.. Still, he and Helena seem contented enough. Jan has always guessed that his brother was homosexual, so he hopes that while the couple are reconciled, they are not likely to produce children. Since his coming home, Philip has been spending more time with Jonas, trying to introduce him to life at Penmarric. Helena seems willing to accept the boy, although she and Philip are much fonder of their nephew, Esmond, who stays with them at times. Jan has been maturing, but he is still far from happy about his brother leaving the estate to Jonas. He doesn't like his nephew much.. He is also depressed by his lowly status after being virtually master of Penmarric. He works in the estate office but he is paying back the money he took from the accounts. Felicity, though still fond of him, is being pressured by her father to get a divorce. He agrees as he knows he has not treated his wife very well and he feels he can't refuse to give her her freedom. Jan and Felicity get a divorce. Jan can see that his brother is not that happy in Cornwall. He seems to get on well enough with Helena, and he is trying conscientiously to make Jonas into a suitable heir. Jonas does not care for sports or for swimming, because of his father's drowning. It's hard for Philip to find common ground with him. Soon, Jonas's aversion to the sea causes a rupture. He takes fright when Philip tries to persuade him to go to the beach, and runs home. Jan goes to Rebecca's house, and finds she is in a terrible state. She believes that Philip made sexual advances to the boy. He tries to calm her down. He reassures her that although Philip may not be interested in women, he is not a child molester... But Rebecca won't listen. She then tells Philip that she doesn't want him to pay for Jonas to go to boarding school, as had been planned. Philip give up on Jonas, reasoning that he can't help him. He realises that Rebecca who is a silly woman, is going to refuse to let him have any contact with the boy. He decides to make Jan his heir, and he and his brother get on much better. He tells Jan that Helena tried to have an affair, while he was away. And she found she didn't like sex. So she is content with what they have. They get on pretty well as companions. However he misses his mining friends. He misses Trevose, and the end of the mine has taken away his main passion in life.