Rosemary Sutcliff CBE (14 December 1920–23 July 1992) was a British novelist, and writer for children, best known as a writer of historical fiction and children's literature. Although she was primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults; Sutcliff herself once commented that she wrote "for children of all ages from eight to eighty-eight". Indeed, some of her novels were specifically written for adults (see below).

Life[link]

Born 14 December 1920 to George Ernest Sutcliff and his wife Elizabeth (née Lawton) in East Clandon, Surrey, she spent her childhood in Malta and various naval bases where her father, a Royal Navy officer, was stationed. She contracted Still's Disease when she was very young, and thus used a wheelchair most of her life. Due to her chronic illness, Sutcliff spent most 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. Sutcliff's early schooling was constantly interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition. She did not learn to read until she was nine years of age, and left school at fourteen years to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. Sutcliff then worked as a painter of miniatures.

Sutcliff began her published writing career in 1950 with The Chronicles of Robin Hood. She wrote The Eagle of the Ninth, her best-known work, in 1954. In 1959 Sutcliff 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. The Mark of the Horse Lord won the first Phoenix Award in 1985, and The Shining Company in 2010.

Sutcliff lived for many years in Walberton near Arundel, Sussex. In 1975, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to Children's Literature, and was promoted to be a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992. She wrote incessantly throughout her life, and was still writing on the morning of her death in 1992. Sutcliff never married and had no children.

Books[link]

[edit] Eagle of the Ninth series in chronological order (novels linked by the Aquila family dolphin ring)

• The Eagle of the Ninth (1954) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges.
• The Silver Branch (1957) illustrated by Charles Keeping.
• Frontier Wolf (1980)
• The Lantern Bearers (1959) illustrated by Charles Keeping.
• Sword at Sunset (1963)
• Dawn Wind (1961) illustrated by Charles Keeping.
• Sword Song (1997) published posthumously.
• The Shield Ring (1956) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges.
• Three Legions (1980) is an omnibus edition containing the original Eagle of the Ninth trilogy: Eagle of the Ninth, Silver Branch and Lantern Bearers (reissued in 2010 as Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles).

Arthurian novels[link]

• Sword at Sunset (1963) also a part of the Eagle of the Ninth series
• The Sword and the Circle (1981) Illustrated by Shirley Felts.
• The Light Beyond the Forest (1979) Illustrated by Shirley Felts.
• The Road to Camlann (1981). Illustrated by Shirley Felts.
• The King Arthur Trilogy, (1999), an omnibus edition containing Sword and the Circle, Light Beyond the Forest and Road to Camlann

Other children's novels[link]

• Chronicles of Robin Hood (1950)
• The Queen Elizabeth Story (1950) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges.
• The Armourer's House (1951) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges.
• Brother Dustyfeet (1952), illustrated by C.Walter Hodges.
• Simon (1953) Illustrated by Richard Kennedy, with cover art by William Stobbs (set during the English Civil Wars of the 17th century).
• Outcast (1955) illustrated by Richard Kennedy.
• Warrior Scarlet (1958) illustrated by Charles Keeping.
• 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.
• 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.
• A Saxon Settler (People of the Past series) (1965). Illustrated by John Lawrence.
• The Chief's Daughter (1967). Illustrated by Victor Ambrus.
• The High Deeds of Finn MacCool (1967), illustrated by Michael Charleton.
• A Circlet of Oak Leaves (1968)
• The Witch's Brat (1970). Illustrated by Richard Lebenson.
• 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). Illustrated by Victor Ambrus.
• The Capricorn Bracelet (1973) different editions illustrated by Charles Keeping and Richard Cuffari. A collection of six inter-connected short stories, following several generations of Roman soldiers serving at Hadrian's Wall from the 1st to the 4th centuries. Based on scripts written originally for a BBC radio series on Roman Scotland.
• 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), illustrated by Shirley Felts.
• Shifting Sands (1977). Illustrated by Laszo Acs.
• Song for a Dark Queen (1978); retells the legend of the Celtic Queen Boudica.
• Eagle's Egg (1981). Illustrated by Victor Ambrus.
• Bonnie Dundee (1983), the story of John Graham, 1st Viscount of Dundee and the First Jacobite Uprising.
• Flame-coloured Taffeta (1986). Cover and illustrations by Rachel Birkett
• The Roundabout Horse (1986) illustrated by Alan Marks.
• A Little Dog Like You (1987) illustrated by Jane Johnson.
• The Best of Rosemary Sutcliff (1987) contains Warrior Scarlet, The Mark of the Horse Lord, and Knight's Fee in one volume. Cover and illustrations by Charles Keeping.
• The Shining Company (1990) retells the events described in the medieval Welsh poem Y Gododdin.
• The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup (1993) illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark. Also serialised in Cricket Magazine.
• Black Ships Before Troy (1993) illustrated by Alan Lee; retells the Iliad. Published posthumously. Also serialised in Cricket Magazine.
• Chess-dream in a Garden (1993) published posthumously. Illustrated by Ralph Thompson.
• The Wanderings of Odysseus (1995), illustrated by Alan Lee. Published posthumously.

Non-fiction[link]

• Rudyard Kipling (1960); a monograph.
• Heroes and History (1965) illustrated by Charles Keeping.
• Blue Remembered Hills (1983); an autobiography.
• History is People, an essay published in Children and Literature: Views and Reviews, ed, Virginia Haviland. Scott, Foresman, c1973.

Novels for adults[link]

• Lady in Waiting (1957); set in Tudor England - the story of Bess Throckmorton, wife of Sir Walter Raleigh
• Rider on a White Horse (1959); set in 17th century England during the Civil Wars period - a novel about Parliamentarian general Sir Thomas Fairfax and his wife Anne, who travelled on campaign with him.
• Sword at Sunset (1963); set in post-Roman Britain - a story of King Arthur as the Romano-Celtic warrior prince he might have been.
• The Flowers of Adonis (1969); set in ancient Greece - about the brilliant but erratic Athenian general Alkibiades and the Peloponnesian War
• Blood and Sand (1987); set during the Napoleonic Wars period, based on the life of Thomas Keith, an historical figure. Keith was a young Scottish soldier with the 78th Highlanders, captured in Egypt by Turkish forces in 1807. He converted to Islam, taking the name Ibrahim Aga, and becoming, in 1815, governor of Medina.

Autobiography, Biography and Critical Works[link]

• Blue Remembered Hills (1983); Sutcliff's memoir of her youth.
• Rosemary Sutcliff: Henry Z Walck, Inc., New York (1962); a brief biographical monograph and critical study by Margaret Meek.
• John Rowe Towmsend, Rosemary Sutcliff, a critical essay in A Sense of Story: Essays on Contemporary Writers for Children, London, Longman (1971) pp. 193–99. Reissued as A Sounding of Storytellers (1979)
• Barbara L Talcroft, Death of the Corn King: King and Goddess in Rosemary Sutcliff's Historical Novels for Young Adults, Metuchen, N.J., & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. (1995)
• Miriam Youngerman Miller. The Rhythm of a Tongue: Literary Dialect in Rosemary Sutcliff's Novels of the Middle Ages for Children. Children's Literature Association Quarterly Vol.19, No.1, Spring 1994, pp. 25–31.

Book Awards[link]

• 1959: The Carnegie Medal, The Lantern Bearers
• 1968: The Hans Christian Andersen Award, nominated
• 1971: Zilveren Griffel – Silver Pencil, in Holland
• 1972: The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Tristan and Iseult
• 1974: The Hans Christian Andersen Award, highly commended
• 1978: The Other Award, Song for a Dark Queen
• 1985: The Phoenix Award, The Mark of the Horse Lord
• 2010: The Phoenix Award, The Shining Company

External links[link]

• Official website about the author and her books, TV scripts, films, TV versions and life by Anthony Lawton, Rosemary Sutcliff's godchild and literary executor.
• An appreciation of Rosemary Sutcliff
• Margaret Meek, Of the Minstrel Kind, article published as a tribute to Rosemary Sutcliff at seventy in Books for Keeps, No. 64, September 1990.
• Article about Rosemary Sutcliff at the Historical Novels Info website
• Green Man article about Sutcliff's Roman Britain novels. Provides synopses and discusses the series in the context of place and chronological setting.
• Interview with Rosemary Sutcliff by Raymond H.Thompson, 1986, on the subject of her Arthurian novel, Sword at Sunset.

References[link]

• Works by or about Rosemary Sutcliff in libraries (WorldCat catalog)