Sunday Salon: Diana Norman/Ariana Franklin

Summer has arrived in Melbourne with a vengeance today. It is hot, hot, hot! So hot that just trying to come up with topics for my Sunday Salon was too hard for my overheated brain.

I actually had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to do a post but then I was on Twitter when @coffeebookchick from Coffee and a Book Chick mentioned that she had heard the news that British mystery writer Ariana Franklin had passed away last week. Ariana Franklin is the author of the medieval mystery series featuring Adelia Aguilar as a female Mistress of the Art of Death (basically a coroner).

I first started reading this author, not in her medieval crime series I mentioned above, but in her earlier straight historical fiction novels that were published under her real name Diana Norman.

Of the novels published under the name of Diana Norman I have only read her Makepeace Burke trilogy that started with A Catch of Consequence. It features a plucky young woman who rescues and then falls in love with an English Lord. She moves to England at a time when England and America are at war, and thus is an outsider, not helped by the fact that Makepeace goes into trade, further ostracising herself. What follows is a life of adventure and hard work, and the whole trilogy was an excellent read.

Source

I had every intention of reading more of her historical novels, which are now sadly out of print, and I thought I had it all under control because my library had quite a few of them on the shelves. Unfortunately though, they have now been taken off of the library catalogue. I really think that they should have to check with me before they take books out of circulation, just in case they might be books that I want to read at some point, Many of her earlier novels are now very rare and when they do become available are very expensive but I am going to have to keep an eye out for them because I have heard that they are excellent

With the first book published under the name Ariana Franklin, there seemed to be a new and greater appreciation for Norman's, or should I say, Franklin's writing abilities, and the series was popular. Now I guess the questions are is there another book started that could bring the series to conclusion, or is that it for Adelia and Rowley and the others in a cast of unusual characters that populated 12th century England. I must confess that there are some series that I read that I am a little bit afraid that the author is going to not be able to finish the series off in the way that they intended to do so.

Here is a list of the titles published (with links to my review where applicable)

Diana Norman

Fitzempress' Law (1980)
King of the Last Days (1981)
The Morning Gift (1985)
Daughter of Lir (1988)
Pirate Queen (1991)
The Vizard Mask (1994)
Shores of Darkness (1996)
Blood Royal (1998)
A Catch of Consequence (2002)
Taking Liberties (2003)
The Sparks Fly Upward (2006)

Ariana Franklin

City of Shadows (2006)

The Mistress of the Art of Death (2007)
The Serpent's Tale (2008)aka The Death Maze
Relics of the Dead (2009) aka Grave Goods
A Murderous Procession (2010)aka The Assassin's Prayer

Diana Norman leaves behind her husband, prominent UK movie critic Barry Norman, two daughters and lots of fans.

Farewell to a favourite author.

Have I mentioned before.....

....that I really like Diana Norman's books?

I have just posted my review of The Sparks Fly Upwards over at Historical Tapestry, and my next read after I finish this one is going to be The Pirate Queen by her! Lucky she has a backlist that I can glom.

Taking Liberties by Diana Norman

She had been a dignified wife, ever mindful of her husband's status, even if she could not respect the man. But when a letter arrives - on the day of the Earl's funeral - asking her to find a young American captured in British waters, she feels free to respond whatever her family's opinion.

Diana Stacpoole's quest takes her to Plymouth, where she meets Makepeace Hedley, a very different woman, who is trying to trace her young daughter - a passenger on one of the captured ships. All the two women have in common is their search and their growing outrage at the conditions in which the captured Americans are kept, deprived of rights given to other prisoners of war. Reluctantly the aloof Diana, with her belief in privilege and the respect due to the nobility, and the outspoken Makepeace, former innkeeper but now one of England's richest females with her passion for liberty for all, are forced into an alliance to find their missing persons and improve the men's conditions.

A remarkable friendship is born as they face social outrage, public scandal and even arrest, and become embroiled with French prisoners, American escapees and English smugglers. Helping others to liberty leads them to splendid liberty for themselves.

Taking Liberties is an unusual novel and a delight to read. It may have a historical setting, but the contemporary echoes are vivid and clear. Diana Norman has written as excellent successor to A Catch of Consequence.

Having read A Catch of Consequence a while ago, I was pleased to get to this book, which picks up the story of Makepeace Burke several years after the ending of the first book.

When Makepeace's young daughter is on a ship that is captured during hostilities between the Britain and the fledgling colonies of America, Makepeace rushes to Plymouth. On arriving there she finds that one of her close circle of friends has been captured and put into jail, when being put into jail often means a death sentence because of the horrific conditions.

Diana has also made her way to Plymouth to try to release a young man from the same prison as a favour to a friend from her youth. When she sees the conditions, Diana is immediately moved to try to do something for the prisoners, a cause that is both unpopular in the corridors of power and with her family.

With Diana and Makepeace working together, what hope is there that the authorities won't eventually capitulate. Well, it's not as simple as that sounds. Whilst having some of the settings within the dingy and dangerous prisons, other parts of the novel are set in a tiny fishing village where they supplement their income with a little smuggling. Along the way we meet dashing French smugglers, evil Revenue men trying to stop the smuggling trade and the gritty and realistic characters that make up the village life. In some ways, Makepeace comes full circle in this book. The only thing that I would have liked to see in relation to Makepeace was more of Andra. He was stuck in France for most of this book, and she was portrayed as not being quite as confident without his love and him to back her up at times. Their relationship has definitely bloomed from business partners to love to life partners during these two books, and was lovely to read.

As the links between these two worlds are established and bought closer together, the end result for some of the characters may well be freedom, not only for prisoners, but also from memories and marriage and yet for others there may be even less freedom than they currently have.

I really did enjoy this book. Diana Norman write complex and yet simple stories with good characters, out of the ordinary settings and view points and has the ability to move me both to tears and laughter. My thanks again to Jayne from Dear Author for bringing this author to my attention. You can read her thoughts on this book by clicking on the link. I am off to nag my library to hurray up and buy the third book in this series, The Sparks Fly Upwards.

Rating 4.5/5

A Catch of Consequence by Diana Norman

Makepeace Burke, colonial tavern keeper, accepts an offer of marriage from the aristocrat she rescues from a rebellious mob, and sets sail for London.

As the second Lady Dapifer, Makepeace soon realises that English society will not easily accept an uneducated colonial.And the first Lady Dapifer, well-connected and refusing to acknowledge her divorce, proves to be an extremely dirty fighter once her silk gloves are off. But Makepeace, having been chased out of one town by prejudice and intolerance, is damned if she'll let that happen again.

Makepeace Burke and her collection of friends, from rescued waifs to Grub Street scribblers, from Northampton miners to prime ministers are irresistible characters. Diana Norman is an addictive discovery.

I first heard about this author when the girls at Dear Author blogged about a couple of her books. With historical fiction being one of my favourite genres, this book, with it's setting in Boston just before the start of the war between Britain and it's young colony, is right up my alley. Boston is full of unrest, and when innkeeper Makepeace Burke rescues a man from the waters of Boston Bay she is dismayed to find that he is an English Lord. The rebels that use her tavern as a meeting place will be less than pleased if they find out that she is harbouring him...not to mention the reaction of her future mother-in-law when she finds out that Makepeace had the man in her bedroom alone for a whole night. The fact that he was unconscious at the time is irrelevant. And then it is Sir Pip's turn to rescue Makepeace and her loved ones, and Makepeace finds herself not only married to him, but falling in love with the dashing Sir Pip, and on her way to make her mark in London society.

Unfortunately, Sir Pip was in Boston trying to obtain a divorce from the first Lady Dapifer, a lady who is finding it very difficult to let go of her former husband, and his money, and she does her best to make as uncomfortable as possible for Makepeace. Well, actually, truth be told the first Lady Dapifer is pretty much a psycho bitch, especially at a time when Makepeace is at her lowest ebb. Luckily she has a quirky and loyal group of friends who are willing to support her, something that she needed after have to move on with her life after a terrible tragedy.

As Makepeace learns to live again, she finds herself in the tough and cold world of Northern England, having to start with very little and try to build a life for herself, always with an eye on vengeance against those who destroyed her life. It is however a fine line between gaining vengeance and allowing that unquenchable thirst for revenge to destroy her again.

I really liked Makepeace as a character. She was tough and resilient, noble and still vulnerable, loyal and direct. It could be said that she might be a little too modern, but to be honest it would only be marginally true, and it is such a minor flaw compared to the very many positive aspects to this book!

As we follow Makepeace as she transitions from innkeeper to society lady to businesswoman, I was completely drawn into her various worlds. When I was reading this book, I was very disappointed when I had to get off the train because it was my stop. I would have been happy to keep on riding the trains until I finished the book! Unfortunately, whilst my boss is a reader, I don't think even she would have appreciated that as a reason for me being late for work.

I have already got the next book in the series out from the library! Can't wait to get to it!

Rating 4.5/5