Karen Harper (April 6, 1945 – April 13, 2020) was a historical fiction and contemporary fiction author. She was a ''

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'' and ''

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'' bestselling author.

Personal life

Harper was born in Toledo,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and graduated from DeVilbiss High School. She obtained her bachelor's degree from

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, and her graduate degree from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in Columbus. She met her husband Don in Columbus, and lived there for thirty-five years, though they spent some time in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

(as she considered that state her "second home"). Harper previously taught English at The Ohio State University and Westerville North High School. Harper died on April 13, 2020, a week after her 75th birthday, after battling cancer.

Writing career

Harper published ''Sweet Passion's Pain'' in 1984, and it was later published as ''

The First Princess of Wales ''The First Princess of Wales'' (originally published as ''Sweet Passion's Pain'') is a 1984 historical fiction novel by American author Karen Harper. Set during the 14th-century, it follows the romance between Joan of Kent and Edward, the Black P ...

'' in 2006 by Three Rivers Press. It tells the tale of

Joan of Kent Joan, Countess of Kent (29 September 1326/1327 – 7 August 1385), known as The Fair Maid of Kent, was the mother of King Richard II of England, her son by her third husband, Edward the Black Prince, son and heir apparent of King Edward III. ...

and her future husband

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...

. Harper remarked in an author's note that the novel reminded her of the love affair between

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

, and

Camilla Parker Bowles Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the acc ...

, as both shared a "less than enthusiastic endorsement" from senior royal figures. Harper has stated that the

Tudor era The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with t ...

is her favorite setting for her novels, and

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...

is a close second. Harper was praised for her historically accurate attention to detail. She stated this is because she built up a large Tudor library over the past thirty years, took frequent trips to the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, had full access to the large Ohio State University library, and interviewed many people familiar with her chosen historical topics.

List of works

The Maplecreek series

# ''Dark Road Home'' (1996) # ''Dark Harvest'' (2004) # ''Dark Angel'' (2007)

The Home Valley series

# ''Fall From Pride'' (2011) # ''Return to Grace'' (2012) # ''Finding Mercy'' (November 2012) # ''Upon a Winter's Night'' (2013)

Cold Creek series

# ''Shattered Secrets'' (2014) # ''Forbidden Ground'' (2014) # ''Broken Bonds'' (2014)

The Queen Elisabeth I series

# ''The Poyson Garden'' (1999) # ''The Tidal Poole'' (2000) # ''The Twylight Tower'' (2001) # ''The Queene's Cure'' (2002) # ''The Thorne Maze'' (2003) # ''The Queen's Christmas'' (2003) # ''The Fyre Mirror'' (2005) # ''The Fatal Fashione'' (2005) # ''The Hooded Hawke'' (2007)

Standalone novels

* ''Down to the Bone'' (2000) * ''The Baby Farm'' (1999) * ''Shaker Run'' (2001) * ''The Stone Forest'' (2002) * ''The Falls'' (2003) * ''Inferno'' (2007) * ''Hurricane'' (2006) * ''Below The Surface'' (2008) * ''The Hiding Place'' (2008) * ''Deep Down'' (2009) * ''Down River'' (2010) * ''The Last Boleyn'' (2006) * ''

'' (originally published as ''Sweet Passion's Pain'' in 1984) (2006) * ''Mistress Shakespeare'' (2009) * ''The Queen's Governess'' (2009) * ''The Irish Princess'' (2011) * ''Mistress of Mourning'' (2012) * ''The Royal Nanny'' (2016) * ''The It Girls'' (2017) * ''Silent Scream'' (2018) * ''American Duchess'' (2019) * ''The Queen's Secret'' (2020) * ''Deep in the Alaskan Woods'' (2020)

References

Sources

External links

Karen Harper Papers
The Ohio State University's Rare Books & Manuscripts Library
Obituary
at ohioana.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Karen 1945 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American historical novelists American women novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Ohio University alumni Ohio State University alumni Ohio State University faculty Women historical novelists Novelists from Ohio 20th-century American women writers American women academics 21st-century American women writers