Aitken, Rosemary 1942- (Bessie Reynolds, Rosemary Rowe)

PERSONAL:

Born January 22, 1942, in Penzance, England; daughter of Garfield Emmanuel Vivian (a pharmaceuticals company executive) and Clara Irene (a homemaker) Rowe; married Thomas Gordon Aitken, 1964 (divorced, 1972); children: Vivienne Jane, Michael Richard; grandchildren: four. Education: Auckland Training College, Auckland, New Zealand, licentiate diploma in speech and drama, 1959, teaching diploma, 1963, diploma in educational management, 1974, licentiate diploma in the teaching of English for speakers of other languages (LTCL TESOL), 1982; Sydney University, B.A., 1961; Victoria University, New Zealand, M.A. (with honors), 1962. Religion: "Protestant Christian."

ADDRESSES:

Home—Gloucestershire, England. Agent—Dorian Literary Agency, Upper Thornehill, Church Road, St. Marychurch, Torquay, Devon TQ1 4QY, England. E-mail—raitken@wyenet.co.uk.

CAREER:

Secondary school teacher, Taumarunui, New Zealand, 1964-67; teacher-trainer and lecturer in higher education, Cheltenham, England, 1967-72, senior lecturer, 1972-87, tutor in charge of ESOL program, 1978-87; Trinity College, London, England, examiner and moderator, 1990—. Also consultant in English as a foreign language for schools in the United Kingdom, Dubai, and Singapore. Tutor in charge for the Quiller Postal Writing Course, 1990-2000.

MEMBER:

Society of Authors, Crime Writers' Association, South and Midwales Writers, Historical Novel Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

English Language Society prize, 1978.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS; "CORNISH SAGA" SERIES

The Girl from Penvarris, Orion (London, England), 1995.

The Tinner's Daughter, Orion (London, England), 1996.

Cornish Harvest, Orion (London, England), 1999.

Stormy Waters, Severn House (Sutton, England), 2001.

The Silent Shore, Severn House (Sutton, England), 2001.

The Granite Cliffs, Severn House (Sutton, England), 2003.

Against the Tide, Severn House (Sutton, England), 2004.

The Tregenza Girls, Severn House (Sutton, England), 2006.

MYSTERY NOVELS; "LIBERTUS" SERIES; AS ROSEMARY ROWE

The Germanicus Mosaic, Headline Books (London, England), 1999.

A Pattern of Blood, Headline Books (London, England), 2000.

Murder in the Forum, Headline Books (London, England), 2001.

The Chariots of Calyx, Headline Books (London, England), 2002.

The Legatus Mystery, Headline Books (London, England), 2003.

The Ghosts of Glevum, Headline Books (London, England), 2004.

Enemies of the Empire, Headline Books (London, England), 2005.

A Roman Ransom, Headline Books (London, England), 2006.

OTHER

Make Up Your Mind (teaching materials), Macmillan (London, England), 1979.

Teaching Tenses (teaching materials), Nelson (London, England), 1992.

Writing a Novel: A Practical Guide, Crowood (Ramsbury, England), 2004.

Contributor of numerous short stories, some under the name Bessie Reynolds, to publications, such as Bella, Women's Realm, and Chat. Author of the "Skill of Listening" series and the "Nelson Listening" series. Also author of plays.

SIDELIGHTS:

Rosemary Aitken has produced a number of fictional works of historical romance and mystery, grouped into two well-received series. She told CA: "I began writing seriously after an industrial accident forced me to abandon my lecturing career." Prior to her injury, Aitken's writing consisted largely of textbooks and teaching guides for the study of English as a second language.

Aitken's "Cornish Saga" series begins with The Girl from Penvarris. Set in a small tin-mining town at the turn of the twentieth century, this book tells the story of Katie Warren, who goes to work in the "Big House" for the local gentry. Eventually, Katie finds herself attracted to George, one of the sons of the family, but his unscrupulous brother Robert gets her turned out of the house, and she is forced to find work in a strange town. By the time Katie and George meet again, both are married to other people, but they cannot deny their old attraction.

Other books in the "Cornish Saga" series follow the lives of Penvarris residents as the settled certainties of the nineteenth century give way to the upheavals of the twentieth century and World War I. Cornish Harvest, for example, tells the story of several Cornish families torn apart by the war. According to Booklist reviewer Catherine Sias, the book is a "melodramatic yet intelligent and socially conscious historical romance." Stormy Waters and The Silent Shore are set in the Edwardian era. In these books, sixteen-year-old Wilhelmina "Sprat" Nicholls and young Denzil Vargo must deal with family secrets, local prejudices, and the strange new ideas promoted by the suffragist movement. Booklist reviewer Maria Hatton noted that in The Silent Shore, the result is a "sweet and simple tale in which early twentieth-century England comes alive."

Class issues come to the fore once again in The Granite Cliffs. The vicar's daughter, Victoria, occupies a strange and lonely social station, above the local miners but below the gentry. Hatton stated that when Victoria falls in love with a miner recovering from an accident, the stage is set for a "wonderfully evocative, socially sensitive tale."

In Against the Tide, Aitken focuses on the trials and tribulations of the Hunkin family, beset by problems. Autocratic Stan rules his family with harshness; his wife has taken to bed and other children are sickly or timid. The daughter Dora, however, has a mind of her own and fights all obstacles to find love with mine-worker Tom Trewin. Hatton, again writing in Booklist, had high praise for Against the Tide, terming it "an engrossing tale that pulls the reader right into a finely rendered world."

In her 2006 addition to the series, The Tregenza Girls, Aitken portrays the world of Edwardian Cornwall, featuring the sisters Lucy and Helena, the latter blind since her youth. Helena keeps to her room but harbors romantic feelings toward a childhood friend who in turn seems to be in love in Lucy. With the coming of World War I, however, change threatens this close-knit world. Booklist reviewer Hatton felt that Aitken "brings a crucial era to life, and weaves an absorbing tale."

Writing as Rosemary Rowe, Aitken has also produced a series of mysteries set in Roman-era Glevum, the town that is now known as Gloucester. This series focuses on Libertus, a former slave and now a mosaicist who draws on his fascination with puzzles and patterns to untangle murder mysteries, generally at the behest of his wealthy benefactor, Marcus Septimus. In the first novel in the series, The Germanicus Mosaic, Libertus investigates the murder of a retired centurion. Kliatt reviewer Janet Julian called the novel "well written, full of lively details of Roman life." In A Pattern of Blood, which Julian termed "a satisfying presentation," Libertus must find the murderer of a wealthy cavalry officer.

Aitken has been highly praised for the historical accuracy of her series. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called her "an outstanding Roman historical mystery writer," and in The Chariots of Calyx she demonstrates her talents at work. Here, Libertus investigates the strangulation death of the corn distributor of Londinium. His search for the killer leads him to the dangerous sport of chariot racing, when he discovers the young widow of the corn distributor is the lover of a famous charioteer. The Publishers Weekly contributor felt that the author "excels at drawing the reader into second-century Roman Britain, effortlessly inserting historical context as well as clues." Library Journal contributor Rex E. Klett also had praise for The Chariots of Calyx, calling it an "exciting and adventurous historical."

In the 2006 addition to the series, A Roman Ransom, Libertus is hastened from his sickbed to find the missing wife and child of his benefactor, Marcus Septimus. A ransom note demands not money, but the return of a person named Lallius Tiberius. As Libertus pursues his investigation, complications arise from every quarter in this novel which "nicely balances historical authenticity and a solid whodunit," as a Kirkus Reviews critic noted. Further praise came from a Publishers Weekly reviewer who observed that with this eighth installment in the series, the author's "period detail, plotting and characterization are as strong as ever."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 1998, Catherine Sias, review of Cornish Harvest, p. 654; September 15, 2001, Maria Hatton, review of Stormy Waters, p. 202; February 15, 2002, Maria Hatton, review of The Silent Shore, p. 997; April 1, 2002, Maria Hatton, review of The Granite Cliffs, p. 1383; November 1, 2004, Maria Hatton, review of Against the Tide, p. 462; September 15, 2006, Maria Hatton, review of The Tregenza Girls, p. 26.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2006, review of A Roman Ransom, p. 758.

Kliatt, March, 2002, Janet Julian, review of The Germanicus Mosaic; September, 2003, Janet Julian, review of A Pattern of Blood.

Library Journal, October 1, 2005, Rex E. Klett, review of The Chariots of Calyx, p. 62.

Publishers Weekly, August 22, 2005, review of The Chariots of Calyx, p. 42; August 7, 2006, review of A Roman Ransom, p. 36.