Rosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff CBE (December 14, 1920 - July 23, 1992) was a British novelist, best known as a writer of highly acclaimed historical fiction. Although primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults, she herself once commenting that she wrote "for children of all ages from nine to ninety."

Born in West Clandon, Surrey, Sutcliff spent her early youth in Malta and other naval bases where her father was stationed as a naval officer. She contracted Still's Disease when she was very young and was confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. Due to her chronic sickness, she spent the majority of her time with her mother, a tireless storyteller, from whom she learned many of the Celtic and Saxon legends that she would later expand into works of historical fiction. Her early schooling being continually interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition, Sutcliff didn't learn to read until she was nine, and left school at fourteen to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. She then worked as a painter of miniatures.

Rosemary Sutcliff began her career as a writer in 1950 with "The Chronicles of Robin Hood". She found her voice when she wrote "The Eagle of the Ninth" in 1954. In 1959, she won the Carnegie Medal for "The Lantern Bearers" and was runner-up in 1972 with "Tristan and Iseult". In 1974 she was highly commended for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her "The Mark of the Horse Lord" won the first Phoenix Award in 1985.

Rosemary lived for many years in Walberton near Arundel, Sussex. In 1975 she was appointed OBE for services to Children's Literature and promoted to CBE in 1992. She wrote incessantly throughout her life, and was still writing on the morning of her death. She never married.

Books

"Eagle of the Ninth" series

* "The Eagle of the Ninth" (1954) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
* "The Silver Branch" (1957) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "The Lantern Bearers" (1959) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "Frontier Wolf" (1980)
* "Sword at Sunset" (1963).
* "Dawn Wind" (1961) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "Three Legions" (1980) is an omnibus edition containing the first three books.

Arthurian novels

* "The Sword and the Circle" (1979)
* "The Light Beyond the Forest" (1979)
* "The Road to Camlann" (1981)

Other children's novels

* "Chronicles of Robin Hood" (1950)
* "The Queen Elizabeth Story" (1950) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
* "The Armourer's House" (1951)
* "Brother Dustyfeet" (1952)
* "Simon" (1953) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
* "Outcast" (1955) illustrated by Richard Kennedy
* "The Shield Ring" (1956)
* "Lady in Waiting" (1957)
* "Warrior Scarlet" (1958) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "Rider of the White Horse" (1959)
* "Knight's Fee" (1960) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "Bridge Builders" (1960)
* "Beowulf: Dragonslayer" (1961) illustrated by Charles Keeping; retells the Anglo-Saxon epic poem "Beowulf"
* "Beowulf" (1961)
* "The Hound of Ulster" (1963) illustrated by Victor Ambrus; retells the story of the Irish hero Cúchulainn
* "The Mark of the Horse Lord" (1965) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "The Flowers of Adonis" (1965)
* "A Saxon Settler" (People of the Past series) (1965)
* "The Chief's Daughter" (1967)
* "The High Deeds of Finn MacCool" (1967)
* "A Circlet of Oak Leaves" (1968)
* "The Witch's Brat" (1970)
* "Tristan and Iseult" (1971)
* "The Truce of the Games" (1971)
* "Heather, Oak, and Olive" Contains three dramatic stories: "The Chief"s Daughter," "A Circlet of Oak Leaves," and "A Crown of Wild Olive" (originally published as "The Truce of the Games") (1972)
* "The Capricorn Bracelet" (1973) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "The Changeling" (1974) illustrated by Victor Ambrus
* "We Lived in Drumfyvie" (1975) with Margaret Lyford-Pike
* "Blood Feud" (1976) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "Sun Horse, Moon Horse" (1977)
* "Shifting Sands" (1977)
* "Song for a Dark Queen" (1978); retells the legend of the Celtic Queen Boudica
* "Eagle's Egg" (1981)
* "Bonnie Dundee" (1983)
* "Flame-colored Taffeta" (1986)
* "The Roundabout Horse" (1986)
* "A Little Dog Like You" (1987) illustrated by Victor Ambrus
* "The Best of Rosemary Sutcliff" - "Warrior Scarlet", "The Mark of the Horse Lord" and "Knight's Fee", in one volume. (1987)
* "The Shining Company" (1990); retells the events described in the Celtic poem Y Gododdin
* "The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup" (1993) illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark. Also serialized in Cricket Magazine.
* "Black Ships Before Troy" (1993) illustrated by Alan Lee; retells the "Iliad" Also serialized in Cricket Magazine.
* "Chess-dream in the Garden" (1993)
* "The Wanderings of Odysseus" (1995)
* "Sword Song" (1997) published posthumously

Non-fiction

* "Rudyard Kipling" (1960) a Monograph
* "Heroes and History" (1966) illustrated by Charles Keeping
* "Blue Remembered Hills" (1983), an autobiography

Novels for adults

* "Sword at Sunset" (1963)
* "The Flowers of Adonis" (1969)
* "Blood and Sand" (1987)

Biography

* "Blue Remembered Hills":Rosemary Sutcliff: William Morrow & Company., (1984) Sutcliff's Memoir of her youthful years.
* "Rosemary Sutcliff":Margret Meek: Henry Z Walck, Inc., New York (1962) A brief biographical monograph of Rosemary Sutcliff.

External links

*
* [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/intrvws/sutcliff.htm Interview with Rosemary Sutcliff]
* [http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/solander%20files/rosemary_sutcliff.htm Rosemary Sutcliff: A Historical Novel Society Appreciation]
* [http://rosemarysutcliff.blogspot.com/ Blogsite of Anthony Lawton, Rosemary Sutcliff's godchild and literary executor]
* [http://blueremembered.blogspot.com/ Blogsite in appreciation of Rosemary Sutcliff, run jointly by an active member of the Historical Novel Society and a professional archaeologist]