Books by Norah Lofts

GAD’S HALLWhen a house comes up for sale at a ridiculously low price there has to be a catch. Doesn’t there? Some sort of legal problem. More prosaically, rising damp or subsidence. But Gad’s Hall had none of these problems; it was modernised and in good condition. Mr. Thorley, the vendor, had his reasons for the sale and the price so Jill and Bob Spender were happy to make the purchase. What Mr. Thorley did not—could not—know was that there was an unseen occupant in Gad’s Hall which had already caused darkness and death and was poised to do so again…THE HAUNTING OF GAD’S HALLAn attic room which shouldn’t be opened. An eight-year-old girl whose talent for painting turns… darker.  An age-old presence which is about to be let loose, once more to wreak its horrors on the unsuspecting occupants of Gad’s Hall.

When the body of four-year-old John Vincent is discovered, hidden in a midden, the already unhappyCornwall family begins to unravel. With no obvious reason for his murder, a scapegoat must be found andhis elder half-sister Charlotte, the sleepwalker, neatly fits the bill. After facing the horror of a trial by jury, Charlotte is found not guilty but suspicion still follows her asshe takes up almost unpaid work as a teacher in the untrustworthy Mrs. Armitage’s school. After her fellow teacher and friend, Miss Lamb, vanishes, followed by the tragic death of one ofCharlotte’s much-loved pupils, the finger of blame is pointed again. Now even Charlotte begins tobelieve that she is losing her mind and may well be a murderess.

Henry Tallboys: The eldest son of Sir Godfrey and Lady Sybilla Tallboys is tied to the plough and scratching a living on Knight’s Acre. Henry’s stubbornness and honesty means he even puts aside much-needed money for a missing brother long believed dead.Joanna Serriff: The daughter of an Arabian woman who saved Sir Godfrey and born at Knight’s Acre. Joanna is heiress to fabulous jewels which Henry refuses to use to support the land she loves so passionately. Instead, she must be sent to learn to become a lady, against her will.Lost in a world of jealousy, corruption in both Church and State and witch hunts, can Henry and Joanna finally find the elusive happiness they seek?

Sir Godfrey Tallboys:Battered and bruised from years as a captive in Spain after an ill-fated crusade, this former knight-errant has returned home to Knight’s Acre to his wife and children. But with him is theMoorish slave girl to whom he owes his life—pregnant with his child. Lady Sybilla Tallboys:Exhausted with struggling to keep her children fed and poverty at bay, Sir Godfrey’s beautiful wife has grown old before her time. But she, too, has known the fleeting call of forbiddenpassion and is willing to welcome her husband’s saviour into their humble home. Tana, Lady Serriff :Exotic and beguiling and aflame with all the jealous passions of the East, Tana sees Sybilla as the obstacle to all her desires. And when Sir Godfrey leaves again to fight another war,Tana’s own battle for supremacy for her and her child begins. This turbulent sequel to Knight’s Acre weaves a colourful tapestry of a medieval world filled with powerful women struggling against the cruel hand of fate.

The Fleece Inn stood where the three roads joined—to London, to Norwich and to the sea. Its trade was prosperous, itshospitality famous and its host, fat Job, was jolly and generous—to his guests.      To his servants Job was cruel and menacing and to Ellie Roon, the most menial servant at the Fleece, he was a figure ofterror. Ellie was used to being shouted at and bullied, but when her illegitimate daughter was born—in a rat-ridden attic of theFleece—she decided that Hester must have a different kind of life.      And so Hester Roon, equipped with little more than courage and a strong will, began her eventful progress in the harshworld of 18th century England. After fleeing from the inn, she became involved in the London underworld. From there shewas to find herself a destiny far beyond her imaginings.

Sir Godfrey Tallboys: A knight-errant at the top of his profession and with little thought beyond the next tourney. A long way from beingwealthy but in need of a house for his pretty young wife.Lady Sybilla Tallboys: A loving wife, tolerant of her husband’s shortcomings—and with a strong desire for a home where she could raise theirfour children instead of relying on the charity of relatives.Forethought was rare for Sir Godfrey but he decided to build a house even though it took the last of his money. A magnificent tourney in Spain would make his fortune so, leaving England, he went off to fight.But tourney turned to treachery and at home he was reported dead. It fell to Sybilla to fend for herself and her children inthe hope that, one day, Sir Godfrey would return.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, heir to of one of the largest and wealthiest duchies in Europe, was headstrong but wise and had mastered all the rules of the political game before she was twenty. She needed to be stronger than any nobleman and, in a world where a woman''s place was as a wife and mother, she fought continually to hold and wield power as a ruler in her own right. Despite being the wife of two kings and mother of three, she was never anything other than her own woman.Eleanor rode in the Second Crusade with her husband Louis VII of France, rebelled against her second husband, Henry II of England, ruled as Queen Regent when her son Richard the Lionheart set off for the Third Crusade and personally negotiated Richard''s ransom when he was captured. She outlived all but two of her children.Norah Lofts brings to passionate life this brave and complex woman who was Queen of both France and England, brought us the concepts of chivalry and courtly love and who was compared with Penthesilia, mythical queen of the Amazons.

"Princesses are born to be exiled. What is the alternative? Spinsterhood?" Thus the future of Caroline Matilda, youngest sister of George III, was settled - marriage to the nearly insane Prince of Denmark. Prompted by a sense of foreboding, she begged that one of her sisters should be sent in her place. But Caroline was the healthiest, the strongest of the English princesses, and as well as being exiled, princesses were meant to be brood mares... Exiled in a strange country, isolated by her inability to speak the language, Caroline forms a close bond with the King's doctor, Johann Struensee. They become lovers, eventually being arrested and charged with treason, with tragic consequences...

Legend has long told the story of Blondel the Lute Player who foundthe lost soldier-king Richard Coeur-de-Lion-kidnapped on the wayback from the great crusade to the Holy Land.Blondel found his king by travelling for months across Europesinging the first part of a love-song which Richard and he hadcomposed together. One day, from behind castle walls, the voice ofRichard responded to the strain.But why would a minstrel embark on such a risky pilgrimage tofind his king? Norah Lofts weaves a fascinating back-story to the taleof the Lionheart who strode out of the courts of twelfth-centuryEurope to lead his knights onto the Saracen battlefield-inspired bya vision of the Holy Land.The Lute Player tells of the courageous Richard and his ill-fatedunion with Berengaria, Princess of Navarre-of his mother, Eleanorof Aquitaine and her possessive love-and, above all, it tells ofBlondel whose life was woven in with all of them and who set outon his mission as an act of great love-but not a love for the King...

She was the daughter of a preacher and a gypsy.A strange and elusive child with powers of prophecy, she grew into an even stranger woman. From those around her she inspired love and admiration or furious hatred. Nothing in between. And somehow Jassy could transform even those who loved her into her enemies.Barney Hatton, the disposessed heir of Mortiboys, loved her but not enough. Lindy, a servant girl who worked there, loved her too much. Elizabeth Twysdale, who taught Jassy her lessons, hated her more with every passing day.And because of the people around her, the people who loved or loathed her, Jassy''s life was destined to be one of passion and anguish.

The beautiful house was built for a pirate rewarded by Good Queen Bess for the plunder that he brought home. But tragedy was born within its walls before Thomas Rowhedge even took possession and its memory remained in an icy atmosphere of despair by the window seat in the hall.It was home to a witch who could charm animals and a ghost who challenged everything but true love. It was filled with hope and heartbreak for four hundred years. It saw the passing of the Civil War and the restoration of the King. It became rich with an Indian Nabob and poor with a 20th century innkeeper. It tested every soul that entered it and gave no quarter to those it found wanting.The house was Merravay and it would always call back its own to try and complete the dance of love broken so cruelly as soon as its cornerstone was laid.