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 ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

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). In 2018, awards were given to ...

by the

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

Biography

Personal life and teaching career

She was born Rosemary Frances Sutherland on 10 February 1928 in

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

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

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

(1945–1947), later she decided 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 (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, 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 (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

(1972–1976). She was principal teacher of History at the

Ladies' College The Ladies' College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, girls in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. The school was founded on 10 October 1872 in order to provide academic education to girls on the isl ...

St Peter Port St. Peter Port (french: Saint-Pierre 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. P ...

, 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 389,844 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 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