Roger Erskine Longrigg (1 May 1929 – 26 February 2000) was a prolific British novelist. As well as publishing some books under his own name, he principally wrote popular novels in a wide range of different styles, using different pseudonyms for each. He wrote the lightly erotic school story, ''
The Passion Flower Hotel
''The Passion Flower Hotel'' is a novel by Rosalind Erskine (real name Roger Erskine Longrigg). It was published by Jonathan Cape in 1962. The story concerns a young girl going to an English girls' boarding school. In the dormitory, the girls di ...
'', as Rosalind Erskine; Scottish historical novels as Laura Black; spy thrillers as Ivor Drummond; mystery thrillers as Frank Parrish; and black comedies about dysfunctional families as Domini Taylor. His other pseudonyms included Megan Barker and Grania Beckford. He had 55 books published in total.
Life
Roger Longrigg was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland, the son of a
brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
. He lived as a child in the Middle East, where his father was stationed, but returned to England to study at
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928 ...
. He then read History at
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
. After completing his degree, he started working for an advertising agency in 1955, before writing two comic novels, ''A High-Pitched Buzz'' (1956) and ''Switchboard'' (1957), based on his experiences there. Both were published under his real name.
[Graham Watson, Obituary, ''The Independent'', 1 March 2000]
/ref>
In 1959 he married, and decided to become a full-time writer, adopting different styles and pseudonyms to suit different audiences. His real identity was kept secret. One of his most successful novels, written as Rosalind Erskine, was ''The Passion Flower Hotel'' (1962), a story of how 15-year-old girls at a boarding school establish a brothel to cater for boys from a nearby school. The mystery surrounding the true authorship of the book was eventually revealed by the " William Hickey" column of the ''Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
''. The novel was later turned into a stage musical
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
scripted by Wolf Mankowitz
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— ''Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustma ...
, a radio play
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
, and a film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
starring Nastassja Kinski
Nastassja Aglaia Kinski (; , ; born 24 January 1961) is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with ''Stay as You Are'' (1978). She then came to gl ...
.[Obituary, ''The New York Times'', 20 March 2000]
/ref>
Longrigg appears to be the first writer to turn Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
's fiction into erotica, with ''Virtues and Vices: A Delectable Rondelet of Love and Lust in Edwardian Times'' (1980), a bawdy, comic rewriting of Persuasion (novel)
''Persuasion'' is the last novel completed by Jane Austen. It was published on December 20, 1817, along with ''Northanger Abbey'', six months after her death, although the title page is dated 1818.
The story concerns Anne Elliot, an Englishwoma ...
set a century after the original version. He wrote the novel under the pseudonym Grania Beckford.
On another occasion, as Frank Parrish, he was awarded the John Cheever
John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; ...
mystery writers' prize for a first published thriller, creating some embarrassment when it was revealed that in fact it was his 20th published book. A later novel, ''Mother Love'' (1983), credited to Domini Taylor, was adapted into a TV series of the same title in 1989, starring Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in '' On H ...
and David McCallum
David Keith McCallum Jr. (born 19 September 1933) is a Scottish actor and musician. He first gained recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E''. In recent years, McCallum ...
.[ He also wrote books about ]horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
and fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...
.[
In 1995, the bookseller John Francis Phillimore declared in an interview that Roger Longrigg's horse-racing adventure story ''Daughters of Mulberry'' (1961) "is the greatest book ever written in any language by anybody. Everyone who has read it agrees with me."
Longrigg died in ]Farnham
Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...
, Surrey, at the age of 70. Gravestone of Roger Longrigg
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longrigg, Roger
1929 births
2000 deaths
20th-century British novelists
British male novelists
20th-century British male writers