Radiance

by Anne Maybury

Radiance

291 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Edith Arundel Buxton
aka Edith Arundel, Anne Maybury & Katherine Troy.

Her maiden surname was Arundel. Her ancestors were said to have come to England with the Norman Conquest and she was proud of the heritage which did seem to imbue her with a perceptive appreciation of history. The love of poetry which remained with her always was inherited from her father, a distinguished poet of his time. Her mother was a musician who died at an early age.

She was a writer of romantic suspense whose novels earned her world-wide acclaim and an enormous following. She was particularly popular in the United States. Her finest gift was for lyrical prose and she used her delight in colour and drama to such effect that the reader was immediately plunged into the story and held enthralled.

Her early novels were written also under the pennames of Edith Arundel and Katherine Troy, but it is as Anne Maybury that she will be remembered. She was a true professional who did not believe in wasting time. A promised deadline was adhered to and all social engagements regretfully cancelled. She developed early in life the profound interest in human behaviour and intrigue which was to prove a valuable asset to her writing. Also in good measure she retained the attribute so necessary to an author, a lively curiosity. She travelled widely and brought a sense of adventure into her books derived often from personal experiences of a bizarre kind. She seemed to attract excitement and used to say that she had met more than one murderer during her travels around the world. As a writer she was stylish, and this quality extended to her personality, which was full of vivid charm, lightened by a sparkling sense of fun.

Generous with her time to aspiring writers, she also loved literary chat with her peers. She was interested in new writing as well as the classics and read widely, keeping up with developments. She was a vice-president of both the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. Almost until his death she regularly attended meetings and gave time and care to helping the members and the causes in which they believe. She was a remarkable writer and a good friend and companion.

Reviews

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Radiance" is the final novel in Anne Maybury's oeuvre and it's a disappointment. In this novel, published in 1979, Maybury largely abandons the romantic suspense that had brought her fame in the previous decade and a half. What's left is a tired soap opera of familial discontent, set in a cosmetics company in London, utilizing the worst of Maybury's by-this-time overused tropes: a fundamentally incompatible couple who married too quickly based on sexual attraction but nothing else; a weak, selfish and gaslighting husband; an overbearing mother-in-law; a bratty, precocious teenager; and an emotionally remote other man. It's like a mash-up and re-run of all the worst minor elements of her previous novels, one that became increasingly prevalent in the mid-t0-late 70s. Was this novel's turn towards lackluster family saga without suspense due to publisher mandates or writerly laziness? It's just sad, as at her peak, with novels such as "I am Gabriella!," The Terracotta Palace" and "Walk in the Paradise Garden," Maybury was a worthy rival to Mary Stewart for her descriptions of places and pleasure and to Phyllis A. Whitney at that author's own peak for her interest in the inner psychology of her characters.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy this book. The only way I would have sympathized with the heroine's behavior is if she had married into a royal family somewhere. Other then a royal obligation, which she would have understood going in (unless she's Meghan Markle-level stupid), why would anyone put up with what she put up with? Who would put up with a mother-in-law who thought she could dictate every aspect of your life, from your career to when you had a baby, and a husband who always deferred to his mother's wishes, however outrageous or intrusive? I kept waiting for the heroine to get fed up and leave, but she continued making excuses for her husband and putting up with her mother-in-law. I get that it was the seventies and things were different, but it's not like she didn't have options. It was a frustrating read, not least because the author was very fond of side roads and red herrings, and was not above changing characterizations completely if it fitted the plot at any given time. This is the second of this author's books that I have read, and both times I have been frustrated by the heroine's behavior. I should probably take that as a sign, but I probably won't.

[Cyndy · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Maybury’s later works and not my favorite. Only worthy of one reading just to see how it ends but I don’t think it deserves a place on my already crowded shelves of books I will actually read multiple times. Sorry Anne Maybury but your earlier works were better.

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the mystery was negligible, I really enjoyed the characters.

[Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read years ago.