''Magic Lantern'' is a 1944

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

Lady Eleanor Smith Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith (7 August 1902 – 20 October 1945) was an English writer and active member of the Bright Young Things. Life Born in Birkenhead, England in 1902, Smith was the eldest child of the politician F. E. Smith's three ...

, her final novel before her death the next year. In it a

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...

marries an attractive

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

girl with whom he has a son; he in turn becomes besotted with a gypsy woman on the moors.Vinson p.634

References

Bibliography

* Vinson, James. ''Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers''. Macmillan, 1982. 1944 British novels Novels by Lady Eleanor Smith British romance novels British historical novels Novels set in Devon Novels set in the 19th century Hutchinson (publisher) books {{1940s-hist-novel-stub