In Madeira, motherless Marianna lives a carefree childhood. Her closest friend is Jacinto, the intelligent son of her father’s vineyard manager. But at 16, she is married off to an older man by her feckless father. In England, William Penfold turns out to be ruthless and abusive. Much later Jacinto follows her and they inevitably become lovers. But it will be years before they can be together… Historical Romantic Saga by Nancy Buckingham; originally published by Eyre Methuen [UK]
Nancy Jean Buckingham was born on 10 August 1924 in Bristol, England, UK. In 1949, she married John Sawyer, born on 4 October 1919 in London, England, UK. They formed one of the most popular writing-team marriages. The first books, published under her maiden name Nancy Buckingham since 1967, are classical gothic novels. In the 1970s, they started to used the pseudonyms Christina Abbey and Erica Quest. In 1980, they sold her first novels to Silhouette, and combined their names to create the pen name Nancy John. They also published one novel as Hilary London. The last novels that they published are a popular police series as Erica Quest, protagonized by the Detective Chief Inspector Kate Maddox. Their last novel was released in 1992.
Nancy Jean Buckingham Sawyer was the eighth elected Chairman (1973-1975) of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and is now one of its vice-presidents. John passed away in 1994.