Eleanor Fairburn (1928–2015)
Author of The rose in spring
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
aka Emma Gayle, Catherine Carfax, Elena Lyons, Anne Neville
Series
Works by Eleanor Fairburn
The Golden Hive 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Carfax, Catherine
Lyons, Elena
Nevile, Anne
Lyons, Eva - Birthdate
- 1928-02-23
- Date of death
- 2015-01-02
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- historical novelist
crime writer - Short biography
- Eleanor Fairburn was one of the many pen names of Eva Lyons. She was born in Westport in the west of Ireland, the only child of Mary and Michael Lyons. Her mother died when she was three years old. At age eight, she went to a convent boarding school in Balla, from which she graduated at 17. She trained in Dublin for a career in fashion design, then worked as a receptionist in a hospital, supplementing her income by writing articles and stories for newspapers. She also produced knitwear designs for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. She married Brian Fairburn, an analytical chemist, with whom she had a daughter and settled in Yorkshire, England. She began her career as novelist with the publication of The Green Popinjays in 1962. Her second and most successful book was The White Seahorse (1964), about the pirate queen Grace O’Malley. In all, she wrote about 25 works of historical fiction and crime thrillers, using various pseudonyms, including Emma Gayle, Catherine Carfax, Elena Lyons, and Anne Neville. She taught a writing course at the University of Leeds for 10 years and was a founding member of the Middlesbrough Writers’ Group. After her husband's death, she moved to Norwich to be closer to her daughter.
- Nationality
- Ireland
- Birthplace
- Westport, Connaught, Ireland
Westport, County Mayo, Ireland - Places of residence
- Ireland
England, UK - Place of death
- Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK
- Burial location
- Aughavale Cemetery, Westport, Ireland
- Disambiguation notice
- aka Emma Gayle, Catherine Carfax, Elena Lyons, Anne Neville
- Associated Place (for map)
- Ireland
Members
Reviews
The fascinating story of Princess Nesta of Deheubarth [present-day South Wales]: her girlhood at Romsey Abbey, life as wife of a Norman knight, Sir Gerald de Windsor; mistress of the English King Henry I; and finally after she is widowed, wife to another Norman knight, Sir Bruno de Hait. She is called by the Welsh the "Helen of Wales". Like Helen of Troy, she too "broke her country's peace and shed her blood." This was a part of history I didn't know much about, and the story made it very show more vivid: ongoing struggle between Wales and England, then war between England and Normandy. As Sir Gerald says at one point in the novel: "If she were born less beautiful, none of this [tragedy] would have happened." Nesta is the mother of the Fitzgeralds of Ireland. All the main characters were fleshed out. The author treated Nesta sensitively. As I read, I was transported back to 11th-12th century Wales, England, and France through the author's literary gift. Any romance was not maudlin and advanced the story. The 'Historical Sequence' was of note, also the beautiful map of 'The Kingdom of Deheubarth with surrounding territories' drawn by the author's daughter on the front end-papers. show less
After 50 years of reading historical fiction I thought I knew most of the better known authors. So when I stumbled across English author Eleanor Fairburn's (1928-2015) novels about the Wars of the Roses, someone I knew nothing about, I was genuinely excited. This book looked like a good place to begin.
THE ROSE IN SPRING (the first book in Fairburn's THE WARS OF THE ROSES QUARTET was first published in 1971 and begins the story of Cecily Neville, wife of Richard Plantagenet, aka 3rd Duke of show more York, and mother to both King Edward IV and King Richard III. Awarded three stars on Goodreads.
The novel sets up Cecily as the protagonist of the entire four volume series. She was a prominent figure in the Wars of the Roses and privy to much of the posturing and politicking of the era. Telling the story of this period from a woman's perspective wasn't all that common when this book was first published.
The novel covers Cecily's privileged childhood, her early betrothal to her father's ward, Richard Plantagenet, who was one of the prominent heirs in line to inherit King Henry VI's throne. And it ends with Cecily and Richard arriving in Ireland, where Richard has in essence been exiled for the sin of arrogance and standing a bit too close to a disputed throne.
Unfortunately I cannot say I found the novel particularly interesting. Rather than holding its own as complete historical fiction unto itself (which is what I expected), this seems much more like a "set-up" novel. It introduces SO MANY characters along with each one's complex familial relationships. (SO MUCH intermarriage among so few noble families!) But very little actually happens.
There's lots of description but it's of relatively unimportant ceremonies and interchanges. So you find yourself, after 250 pages, with Cecily in her mid-thirties, supervising a growing family, and living with her exiled husband, now the head of the House of York. I simply didn't feel there was enough substance for this to be a stand alone novel.
I do not plan to continue reading the series. I think if anyone if looking for a good novel about Cecily, who is indeed a fascinating historical figure, I'd suggest reading QUEEN BY RIGHT by Anne Easter Smith, which I awarded five stars on Goodreads. A much more compelling accounting of this woman's life. show less
THE ROSE IN SPRING (the first book in Fairburn's THE WARS OF THE ROSES QUARTET was first published in 1971 and begins the story of Cecily Neville, wife of Richard Plantagenet, aka 3rd Duke of show more York, and mother to both King Edward IV and King Richard III. Awarded three stars on Goodreads.
The novel sets up Cecily as the protagonist of the entire four volume series. She was a prominent figure in the Wars of the Roses and privy to much of the posturing and politicking of the era. Telling the story of this period from a woman's perspective wasn't all that common when this book was first published.
The novel covers Cecily's privileged childhood, her early betrothal to her father's ward, Richard Plantagenet, who was one of the prominent heirs in line to inherit King Henry VI's throne. And it ends with Cecily and Richard arriving in Ireland, where Richard has in essence been exiled for the sin of arrogance and standing a bit too close to a disputed throne.
Unfortunately I cannot say I found the novel particularly interesting. Rather than holding its own as complete historical fiction unto itself (which is what I expected), this seems much more like a "set-up" novel. It introduces SO MANY characters along with each one's complex familial relationships. (SO MUCH intermarriage among so few noble families!) But very little actually happens.
There's lots of description but it's of relatively unimportant ceremonies and interchanges. So you find yourself, after 250 pages, with Cecily in her mid-thirties, supervising a growing family, and living with her exiled husband, now the head of the House of York. I simply didn't feel there was enough substance for this to be a stand alone novel.
I do not plan to continue reading the series. I think if anyone if looking for a good novel about Cecily, who is indeed a fascinating historical figure, I'd suggest reading QUEEN BY RIGHT by Anne Easter Smith, which I awarded five stars on Goodreads. A much more compelling accounting of this woman's life. show less
The fascinating story of Princess Nesta of Deheubarth [present-day South Wales]: her girlhood at Romsey Abbey, life as wife of a Norman knight, Sir Gerald de Windsor; mistress of the English King Henry I; and finally after she is widowed, wife to another Norman knight, Sir Bruno de Hait. She is called by the Welsh the "Helen of Wales". Like Helen of Troy, she too "broke her country's peace and shed her blood." This was a part of history I didn't know much about, and the story made it very show more vivid: ongoing struggle between Wales and England, then war between England and Normandy. As Sir Gerald says at one point in the novel: "If she were born less beautiful, none of this [tragedy] would have happened." Nesta is the mother of the Fitzgeralds of Ireland. All the main characters were fleshed out. The author treated Nesta sensitively. As I read, I was transported back to 11th-12th century Wales, England, and France through the author's literary gift. Any romance was not maudlin and advanced the story. The 'Historical Sequence' was of note, also the beautiful map of 'The Kingdom of Deheubarth with surrounding territories' drawn by the author's daughter on the front end-papers. show less
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