Netta Muskett (1887 in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England – 29 May 1963 in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

) was a British writer of more than 60

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 from 1927 to 1963, who also wrote under the pseudonym Anne Hill. Her novels have been translated to several languages, including: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish and Danish. Netta Muskett was co-founder and vice-president of 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 ...

, that created in her honour the

Netta Muskett Award ''Netta'' is a genus of diving ducks. The name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck". Unlike other diving ducks, the ''Netta'' species are reluctant to dive, and feed more like dabbling ducks. These are gregarious ducks, mainly found on fresh ...

for new writers, now called the RNA New Writers Scheme.

Biography

Personal life

Netta Rachel Hill was born on 1887 in

, England, UK. She was educated at

Kent College Kent College, Canterbury is a co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils between the ages of 3 months and 18 years. It was founded in 1885, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Originally establis ...

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

, before became teacher of Mathematics. During the World War I, she joined the

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

, and drove an ambulance in France. In 1916, her brother, member of the Imperial Camel Corp, was killed in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. After the war, she worked as secretary of Lord

George Riddell, 1st Baron Riddell George Allardice Riddell, 1st Baron Riddell (25 May 1865 – 5 December 1934), known as Sir George Riddell, Bt, between 1918 and 1920, was a British solicitor, newspaper proprietor and public servant. Background and education Riddell was born on ...

, owner and Managing Director of the

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

. In 1925, she married the widower Henry Wallace Muskett (1886–1953), who had three children from his first marriage, and they had a son, Peter Muskett, who married Judith; they had two children: Sarah-Jane and Jamie. During the World War II, she again served with the V.A.D where she taught handicrafts in British and American hospitals. She died on 29 May 1963 in

Writing career

She started publishing on 1927, and she continued writing until the day of her death, and her last novel, ''Cloudbreak'', was published posthumously. In 2013, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her death, her family started to published her novels as ebook through Amazon Kindle.

Bibliography

As Netta Muskett

Novels

*''The Jade Spider'' (1927) *''The Flickering Lamp'' (1930) *''The Open Window'' (1930) *''A Mirror for Dreams'' (1931) *''After Rain'' (1931) *''Nor Any Dawn'' (1932) *''The Shallow Cup'' (1932) *''Plaster Cast'' (1933) *''Wings in the Dust'' (1933) *''Painted Heaven'' (1934) *''Silver-Gilt'' (1935) *''Tamarisk'' (1935) *''Winter's Day'' (1936) *''Alley-Cat'' (1937) *''Middle Mist'' (1937) *''The Shadow Market'' (1938) *''Blue Haze'' (1939) *''Today is Ours'' (1939) *''Scarlet Heels'' (1940) *''The Wire Blind'' (1940) *''Wide and Dark'' (1940) *''The Gilded Hoop'' (1941) *''Love in Amber'' (1942) *''Candle in the Sun'' (1943) *''Golden Harvest'' (1944) *''Fire of Spring'' (1946) *''Misadventure'' (1946) *''The Patchwork Quilt'' (1946) *''The Clency Tradition'' (1947) *''A Daughter for Julia'' (1948) *''The Durrants'' (1948) *''Living with Adam'' (1949) *''Cast the Spear'' (1950) *''House of Many Windows'' (1950) *''No May in October'' (1951) *''The Long Road'' (1951) *''Rock Pine'' (1952) *''Safari for Seven'' (1952) *''Brocade'' (1953) aka ''Not the Marrying Kind'' *''Philippa'' (1954) *''Red Dust'' (1954) *''Give Back Yesterday'' (1955) *''Flowers from the Rock'' (1956) *''Light From One Star'' (1956) *''The Crown of Willow'' (1957) *''Flame of the Forest'' (1958) *''The Fettered Past'' (1958) *''The High Fence'' (1959) *''Through Many Waters'' (1961) *''The Touchstone'' (1962) *''The Weir House'' (1962) *''Love and Deborah'' (1963) *''Cloudbreak'' (1964) *''Daughter for John''

As Anne Hill

Novels

*''The White Dove'' (1956) *''This lovely thing'' (1957) *''No yesterdays'' (1959) *''Safe harbour'' (1960) *''Jennifer'' (1961) *''House of straw'' (1962) *''The other woman'' (1963)

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muskett, Netta British romantic fiction writers 1887 births People from Sevenoaks 1963 deaths 20th-century British novelists English women novelists