Frances Murray is the pseudonym used by Rosemary Frances Booth, née Sutherland (born 10 February 1928, died 27 October 2019), a Scottish writer of

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

and

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

s. In 1976, her novel ''The Burning Lamp'' won the

Romantic Novel of the Year Award The Romantic Novel of the Year Award is an award for romance novels since 1960, presented by Romantic Novelists' Association, and since 2003, the novellas, also won the Love Story of the Year (now RoNA Rose Award). Winners Romantic Novel of th ...

by the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body representing authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stua ...

Biography

Personal life and teaching career

She was born Rosemary Frances Sutherland on 10 February 1928 in

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

, the daughter of Frances (Wotherspoon), an artist, and Donald Sutherland, a journalist and playwright. She studied at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

(1945–1947), later she took a year out and worked for and toured with the Unity Theatre of Glasgow (1948–1949). On 28 August 1950 she married Robert Edward Booth, a manager, and they had three daughters: Lesley, Judith, and Frances. In 1965, she gained an MA at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, followed by a Diploma in Education in 1966. She taught History at

Perth Academy Perth Academy is a state comprehensive secondary school in Perth, Scotland. It was founded in 1696. The institution is a non-denominational one. The school occupies ground on the side of a hill in the Viewlands area of Perth, and is within the P ...

, Scotland (1966–1972) and was Head of History Department at Linlathan School,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

(1972–1976). She was principal teacher of History at the Ladies' College,

St Peter Port St. Peter Port () is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. Peter Port is a small tow ...

, Guernsey, Channel Isles (1976–1993). In 1993, she retired from teaching. After retiring, Rosemary and her husband moved to Spain to live and then to France where she lived in the

Tarn (department) Tarn ( or ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Named after the river Tarn (river), Tarn, it had a population of as of 2019.

until her death.

Writing career

Under the pseudonym of Frances Murray, she was published from 1966 to 1986. Since 2011, she auto-published e-books in Amazon. Throughout her professional teaching career and her retirement, she has always written. Her novels reflect her interest in people, language, literature, art, and all things culinary. Whilst teaching in Scotland she wrote a series of radio scripts for BBC Schools Radio; and award-winning school plays for drama competitions. She was commissioned to write a Scots ballad for the novelist Mary Stewart.

Bibliography

Children's novels

Ponies Series

# ''Ponies on the Heather'' (1966) # ''Ponies and Parachutes'' (1975) # ''White Hope'' (1978)

Single novels

* ''Shadow Over the Islands'' (1986)

Romance novels

* ''The Dear Colleague'' (1972) * ''The Burning Lamp'' (1973) * ''The Heroine's Sister'' (1975) * ''Red Rowan Berry'' (1976) * ''Castaway'' (1978) * ''Payment for the Piper'' (1983) aka ''Brave Kingdom'' (US title) * ''The Belchamber Scandal'' (1985)

e-Books (Amazon Kindle)

* ''A Power to Charm'' (2011) * ''Summer School at Labastide'' (2012) * ''The Borrowing Days''(2012) * ''Shackles'' (2012) * ''Long Road to Philadelphia'' (2012) * ''Whatever Happened to Mary Bold'' (2012) * ''The Coral Strand'' (2012) * ''Expectations'' (2012)

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Frances 1928 births Scottish romantic fiction writers 2019 deaths RoNA Award winners 20th-century Scottish novelists 21st-century Scottish novelists 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish women writers British women romantic fiction writers Scottish women novelists People from Lanark Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of St Andrews Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers