Rona Shambrook, ''née'' ''Green'' (born 16 June 1911, date of death unknown), was a British writer of over 50

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

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 some non-fiction books, under the pseudonym of Rona Randall from 1942 to 2001. She also used her married name Rona Shambrook and the pseudonym of Virginia Standage. In 1970, her novel ''Broken Tapestry'' 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 ...

from the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body that represents authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stuart ...

Biography

Shambrook was born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, Cheshire, England Her education includes Pitmans College in London, a Diploma in English literature at Royal Society of Art, Birkenhead School of Art Literary. In 1938, she married Frederick Walter Shambrook. She had a son. A former actress, before writing she worked also as journalist and sub-director of the publishing company

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

, and as assistant editor of

George Newnes Ltd George Newnes Ltd is a British publisher. The company was founded in 1891 by George Newnes (1851–1910), considered a founding father of popular journalism. Newnes published such magazines and periodicals as ''Tit-Bits'', ''The Wide World Magazi ...

. Published since 1942, she started publishing mainly contemporary doctor-nurse romances, before writing also gothic romances and, when the market for gothic novels softened, historical mystery romances. In 1970, ''Broken Tapestry'', her contemporary novel about a broken family, won the Romantic Novelists' Association's Romantic Novel of the Year Award. In 1989, she wrote ''The Model Wife: Nineteenth Century Style'', a book about social constumbres, including clothing. In 1992, she wrote ''Writing Popular Fiction'', a complete guide for writers.

Bibliography

As Rona Randall

Single novels

* ''The Moon Returns'' (1942) * ''Doctor Havelock's Wife'' (1943) * ''Rebel Wife'' (1944) * ''The Late Mrs. Lane'' (1945) * ''That Girl, Jennifer!'' (1946) * ''The Howards of Saxondale'' (1946) * ''The Fleeting Hour'' (1947) * ''She Married a Doctor'' (1947) aka ''I Married a Doctor'' aka ''The Doctor Takes a Wife'' * ''The Street of the Singing Fountain'' (1948) * ''Shadows on the Sand'' (1949) * ''Delayed Harvest'' (1950) * ''Young Dr. Kenway'' (1950) * ''The Island Doctor'' (1951) * ''Bright Morning'' (1952) * ''Girls in White'' (1953) * ''Young Sir Galahad'' (1953) * ''Journey to Love'' (1953) aka ''Journey to Arcady'' * ''Faith, Hope and Charity'' (1954) aka ''Sisters in Nursing'' aka ''Lab Nurse'' * ''The Merry Andrews'' (1954) * ''Desert Flower'' (1955) * ''A Girl Called Ann'' (1956) * ''Leap in the Dark'' (1956) * ''Runaway from Love'' (1956) * ''The Cedar Tree'' (1957) * ''Nurse Stacey Comes Aboard'' (1958) * ''The Doctor Falls in Love'' (1958) * ''Dancing Cinderella'' (1959) * ''Love and Dr. Maynard'' (1959) * ''Enchanted Eden'' (1960) * ''Sister at Sea'' (1960) * ''Girl in Love'' (1961) * ''Hotel de Luxe'' (1961) * ''House Surgeon at Luke's'' (19) * ''Walk Into My Parlour'' (1962) aka ''Lyonhurst'' * ''Murmuring Willow'' (1962) aka ''The Willow Herb'' * ''Seven Days from Midnight'' (1965) * ''The Arrogant Duke'' (1966) * ''Knight's Keep'' (1967) * ''Broken Tapestry'' (1969) * ''The Witching Hour'' (1970) * ''Silent Thunder'' (1971) aka ''Mountain of Fear'' * ''The Midnight Walker'' (1973) aka ''Glenrannoch'' * ''Dragonmede'' (1974) * ''The Watchman's Stone'' (1975) * ''The Eagle at the Gate'' (1978) * ''The Mating Dance'' (1979) * ''The Ladies of Hanover Square'' (1981) * ''Curtain Call'' (1983) * ''The Frozen Ceiling'' (1999) * ''The Tower Room'' (2001)

Potters Saga

# ''The Drayton Legacy'' (1986) # ''The Potter's Niece'' (1987) # ''The Rival Potters'' (1990)

Non-fiction

* ''Jordan and the Holy Land'' (1968) * ''The Model Wife: Nineteenth Century Style'' (1989) * ''Writing Popular Fiction'' (1992)

As Rona Shambrook

Single novels

* ''The Silver Cord'' (1963)

As Virginia Standage

Single novels

* ''Golden Rebel'' (1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randall, Rona 1911 births Year of death missing People from Birkenhead English romantic fiction writers RoNA Award winners 20th-century English novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers Women romantic fiction writers English women novelists Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers