Jassy / Bless This House / Scent of Cloves / How Far to Bethlehem?

by Norah Lofts

Selected Works Lofts, Norah

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1979

About the author

Norah Ethel Robinson Lofts Jorisch (27 August 1904–10 September 1983) was a 20th century best-selling British author. She wrote over fifty books specialising in historical fiction, but she also wrote non-fiction and short stories. Many of her novels, including her Suffolk Trilogy, follow the history of a specific house and the residents that lived in it.

Lofts was born in Shipdham, Norfolk in England. She also published using the pseudonyms Juliet Astley and Peter Curtis. Norah Lofts chose to release her murder-mystery novels under the pen name Peter Curtis because she did not want the readers of her historic fiction to pick up a murder-mystery novel and expect classic Norah Lofts historical fiction. However, the murders still show characteristic Norah Lofts elements. Most of her historical novels fall into two general categories: biographical novels about queens, among them Anne Boleyn, Isabella of Castile, and Catherine of Aragon; and novels set in East Anglia centered around the fictitious town of Baildon (patterned largely on Bury St. Edmunds). Her creation of this fictitious area of England is reminiscent of Thomas Hardy's creation of "Wessex"; and her use of recurring characters such that the protagonist of one novel appears as a secondary character in others is even more reminiscent of William Faulkner's work set in "Yoknapatawpha County," Mississippi. Norah Lofts' work set in East Anglia in the 1930s and 1940s shows great concern with the very poor in society and their inability to change their conditions. Her approach suggests an interest in the social reformism that became a feature of British post-war society.

Several of her novels were turned into films. Jassy was filmed as Jassy (1947) starring Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price. You're Best Alone was filmed as Guilt is My Shadow (1950). The Devil's Own (also known as The Little Wax Doll and Catch As Catch Can) was filmed as The Witches (1966). The film 7 Women was directed by John Ford and based on the story Chinese Finale by Norah Lofts.

Reviews

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Jassy and Bless this House a few weeks ago - both overlapped slightly with The Town Hose Trilogy but not as good
I read How Far is it to Bethlehem during Holy Week and finished the book on Good Friday- at first it seemed strange to read about the Christmas story at this time of year but as several references to Christ’s fate during the book , the timing was rather appropriate
Very interesting take on the Christmas story, although I felt the background stories created by zNorah Lofts were rather too long and detailed, nevertheless a very good ‘version’ of the familiar story

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad ending