Ralph Dacre

by Anne Stevenson

Genres: Historical Fiction

254 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Felicity Avery (Anne Stevenson, pen name) was born in Cardiff in 1928, she read History at St. Anne’s at the University of Oxford from 1946 to 1949. After her degree, she worked as historical archivist for the Holland-Martin banking family, before turning to journalism and fiction, which was initially published in the form of short stories and serials in magazines and journals. Composed under the nom de guerre of Anne Stevenson, her first novel, Ralph Dacre, was immediately snapped up by Billy Collins in 1967 and quickly became a best seller. It was followed by eight further novels that spanned various genres from thrillers to historical sagas. She has variously been compared to Mary Stewart and, in her pared-down shorter fiction, to Graham Greene and during her most prolific years in 1960s and 1970s, she gathered a considerable number of loyal readers for her intelligent, well-crafted thrillers.

She was married to the economic journalist and naval historian, Ronald Avery (1915-1996) and spent the last years of her life in Oxford, before losing her fight with breast cancer in 2008. She is survived by her daughter, Anne Louise, and grandson, Inigo. There are plans to republish her works in the next couple of years, following a resurgence of interest in her fiction.

Reviews

[Noorilhuda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the 1st edition was released in 1966, not 70s and I just read the 1969 Collins edition - I don't remember whether I got it from some old-books store in teenage years or whether it's my mom's, but it was just lying on a shelf and I thought to be done with it: It almost is a bubble-gum Wuthering Heights - a brooding moorish hero Ralph, a weak-minded heroine Sarah and devil-incarnate Francis. Just read it to get a feel of how historical romances were written like in the 60s. Story is okay but Ralph Dacre should have ended up with sensible mature Elizabeth and not weak-minded Sarah who married Francis at the drop of a hat even though she had lived her whole life with Ralph and loved him! Anyways, now I can put the book back in the shelf I found it in! I doubt I'll remember ever reading it!