June Knox-Mawer, née ''Ellis'' (10 May 1930 in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Wales – 19 April 2006) was a British writer of non-fiction books 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 and a radio broadcaster. In 1992, her novel ''Sandstorm'' 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.

Biography

Knox-Mawer was born June Ellis on 10 May 1930 in

, Wales, UK, daughter of Frank Ellis, an accountant, and was raised in rural

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. She worked on the

Chester Chronicle ''Chester Chronicle'' is a local weekly newspaper distributed in Chester, Cheshire and North Wales. The first edition was published by founder John Poole on 2 May 1775. Editions are published every Thursday. In 2018, it had a circulation of 7,023. ...

. In 1951, she married

Ronald Knox-Mawer Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'', Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English '' Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised form of ...

(1925–2009), a barrister and member of the colonial judiciary; they had a son a and a daughter. The married couple lived in

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, which inspired her writing. In 1972, they returned to the UK. She died on 19 April 2006, aged 75.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

*''The Sultans Came to Tea'' (1961) *''A Gift of Islands: Living in Fiji '' (1965) *''A South Sea Spell'' (1975) *''Tales from Paradise: Memories of the British in the South Pacific'' (1986) *''A Ram in the Well: A Welsh Homecoming'' (2001)

Novels

* ''Marama'' (1972) aka ''Marama of the Islands'' * ''Sandstorm'' (1992) * ''The Shadow of Wings'' (1995)

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox-Mawer, June 1930 births 2006 deaths People from Wrexham English romantic fiction writers RoNA Award winners 20th-century English novelists 21st-century British writers 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers British women romantic fiction writers English women novelists