Rosemary Hawley Jarman (27 April 1935 – 17 March 2015) was an English novelist and writer of short stories. Her first novel in 1971 shed light on

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

of England.

Life

Jarman was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. She was educated first at Saint Mary's Convent and then at The Alice Ottley School, leaving at 18 to study singing in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for the next three years, having developed a fine soprano voice. Family circumstances prevented her from continuing with this, and she worked for a time in local government. She married David Jarman in 1958, but divorced amicably from him in 1970. She lived most of her time at

Callow End Callow End is a constituent village of the civil parish of Powick in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. It is located on the B4424 road about to the south of its junction with the main A449 Malvern to Worcester road. The Riv ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, between Worcester and

Upton on Severn Upton-upon-Severn (or Upton on Severn, etc. and locally simply Upton) is a town and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Lying on the A4104 (formerly A440), the 2011 census recorded a population of 2,881 for the ...

. In 1986 Jarman moved to

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

in Wales with the prize-winning naturalist author R. T. Plumb. They married in September 2002, but Plumb died of cancer in October 2003.

Writings

Jarman began to write for pleasure. She developed an obsession with the character of

(1452–1485, reigned 1483–1485), and with no thought of publication completed a 228,000 word novel showing the king in his true colours, away from Tudor and Shakespearian propaganda. The book was taken up almost accidentally by an agent. Within six weeks a contract for its publication and for four other novels was signed with William Collins Publishers (now

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

). The author had short stories published in magazines in the UK and France and was a member of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

from 1970. She was dubbed "A Daughter of Mark Twain" by the Samuel Clemens Society in the US for her services to literature.

Published works

*''We Speak No Treason'' (1971), awarded The Silver Quill and the

Author's Club First Novel Award The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award is awarded by the Authors' Club to the most promising first novel of the year, written by a British author and published in the UK during the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is presented. ...

. (Later published as two volumes: 1) ''The Flowering of the Rose'' and 2) ''The White Rose Turned to Blood'', Tempus, 2006) *''The King's Grey Mare'' (1972) *''Crispin's Day'' (1978) *''Crown in Candlelight'' (1978) *''The Courts of Illusion'' (1983) *''The Mists of Melusine'' (Daw Books) 1996. *''The Mammoth Book of Historical Erotica'' (1999) Three short stories. *"Ai No Corrida" published in ''Eros in Hell'' (Creation Books 1998).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarman, Rosemary Hawley 1935 births Living people Writers from Worcester, England 20th-century English novelists English short story writers British women short story writers English women novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages 20th-century English women writers Women historical novelists 20th-century British short story writers