Hendry, Frances Mary 1941–

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Hendry, Frances Mary 1941–

(Fiona Kelly)

Personal

Born April 27, 1941, in Glasgow, Scotland; daughter of Iain (a teacher) and Mysie (a teacher; maiden name, Matheson) Newall; married Alexander Hendry (a steel erector), 1968; children: Jennifer. Education: Glasgow University, M.A.; attended Jordanhill Teacher Training College. Politics: "Liberal/Scottish nationalist." Religion: "Agnostic." Hobbies and other interests: Amateur drama and pantomime, gardening, history, embroidery.

Addresses

Home—19 Rose St., Nairn, Nairnshire, IV12 4AJ, Scotland. Agent—L. Hadcroft, Laurence Pollinger Ltd., 18 Maddox St., London W1R 0EU, England. E-mail—writer@fmhendry.dial.netmedia.co.uk.

Career

Teacher of English, French, and remedial subjects in Glasgow and Nairn, Scotland, 1963–86; writer, 1986–.

Awards, Honors

S.A.C. Literary Award, 1986, for Quest for a Kelpie, 1988, for Quest for a Maid; Writers Guild Award, and Lancashire Book Award, both 1995, both for Chandra.

Writings

Quest for a Kelpie, Canongate (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1986, Holiday House (New York, NY), 1988.

Quest for a Maid, Canongate (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1988, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 1990.

Quest for a Queen: The Falcon, Canongate (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1989.

Quest for a Babe, Canongate (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1990.

Jenny, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1991.

Quest for a Queen: The Lark, Canongate (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1992.

Quest for a Queen: The Jackdaw, Canongate (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1993.

Chandra, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1995.

Seer's Stone, Henderson (London, England), 1996.

(Under name Fiona Kelly) Kidnap! ("Mystery Kids" series), Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1996.

Atlantis, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1997.

Atlantis in Peril, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1998.

Chains, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2004.

Author's books have been translated and published in Italian, Danish, Dutch, German, Sweden, Spanish, and French.

Sidelights

Frances Mary Hendry has written several historical novels for adolescents that draw upon the events and legends of her native Scotland. Quest for a Kelpie, Quest for a Maid, and the "Quest for a Queen" trilogy have each won strong words of praise from reviewers for their believable characterizations and dramatic narrative structure. With Chandra and Atlantis in Peril Hendry leaves the British past and moves forward in time: Chandra takes place in modern-day India, while Atlantis moves into the mythic past in its story about a fabled ancient world. Her 2004 novel Chains, which finds a girl confronting the inhumanity of slavery after she disguises herself as a boy and sails with her captain father on his slave run between America and Africa, was praised by a Guardian Online reviewer as "a seriously entertaining and informative read that doesn't skirt the issues."

Quest for a Kelpie was Hendry's first work of fiction to delve into the Scotland of long ago for contemporary teen readers. Initially published in Edinburgh in 1986, and two years later in the United States, the first of her "Quest" books is set in 1746 near the time of the infamous battle of Culloden. The story is recounted by young Jennie Main, of whom some local fishermen are wary because of her red hair which is considered a bad omen. When a Gypsy girl is accused of stealing from their boats, Jennie testifies on behalf of the girl, proving her innocence. This earns her the assured enmity of the fishermen. Banned from approaching their boats forever, Jennie instead finds companionship among the outcast Gypsies, and her honesty and hardship so impress a wealthy landowner that she is hired into the household as a maid.

Hendry recounts this tale through Jennie's reminiscences in her Scottish dialect and provides a glossary to help readers unfamiliar with the unusual terms. On the estate, Jennie begins to wonder if the fortune a Gypsy once told her—that she will make a king and break a king, and may also ride the "kelpie"—is about to prove prophetic. As she grows into young adulthood, she falls in love with a soldier fighting in a war for independence sparked when Bonnie Prince Charlie led an army of Scottish Highlanders in an effort to claim the English throne for the Stuart clan. The kelpie is a water spirit that, according to Scottish folklore, sometimes takes the form of a horse; if its rider can stay on, a wish will be granted, but if the rider falls, she drowns. During the battle of Culloden, Jennie nurses wounded Scottish soldiers; when her parents contract typhus fever and her lover must flee, she spies a mysterious horse and rides it, hoping it is the kelpie.

Quest for a Kelpie earned praise for its adventurous pace and believable, triumphant heroine. "Carefully rendered details lend a strong sense of time and place here," assessed a Kirkus Reviews critic. "Jennie is a quick-witted, hot-tempered narrator who should captivate readers with her humor and perception," remarked Carolyn Caywood in a School Library Journal review.

Hendry's second title delves even further into Scottish history by recounting an even more adventurous series of events. Set in the thirteenth century, Quest for a Maid spans seven years beginning with the murder of Alexander III of Scotland, whose death launches a struggle for the throne. The story is told by Meg, a shipbuilder's daughter who learns that her treasonous sister Inge practices witchcraft. As events unfold, Meg is chosen as part of the entourage sent to Norway to bring the child bride known as the Maid of Norway back to wed the crown prince, Alexander's heir. The perilous sea journey is a well-known piece of Scottish lore, memorialized in a famous ballad. According to record, a storm and sea disaster resulted in the death of the Norse princess, but in Hendry's tale she and Meg survive the storm, which had been brought on by the machinations of Inge. Other important characters include the teen Meg's fiancée, Davie, and her faithful servant, Peem.

"This elegantly crafted novel teems with life," wrote Ann Welton in Voice of Youth Advocates, the critic adding that "the characterization is superb…. Their personalities are unique and their motivations clear." Booklist reviewer Barbara Elleman noted that though the plot of Quest for a Maid is somewhat intricate and the Scottish brogue challenging, the novel is nonetheless "a superb literary experience." The critic went on to remark that, even with its drawbacks, the book is, for "good readers … both a challenge and a rewarding experience." Amy Kellman, reviewing the book for School Library Journal, called it "an intriguing and well-told tale," and termed Meg "a likable heroine." Hendry has also written Quest for a Babe, and the "Quest for a Queen" series continues with Quest for a Queen: The Lark and Quest for a Queen: The Jackdaw.

In her young-adult novel Chandra, the author shifts to present-day Delhi, India, and creates a heroine who faces decidedly vexing obstacles. Chandra is eleven when her dreams of studying engineering are ended with her arranged marriage to a boy of sixteen. A spirited and intelligent young woman, Chandra looks forward to her new life and even comes to like her new partner after their long Hindu wedding ceremony. He leaves for his home in an arid, remote part of India, however, and before she is able to join him he dies from a fever. Accused as a sorceress by his family, Chandra realizes that her in-laws now expect her to follow the strict custom of the Hindu and devote her widowhood to remaining with his family as their servant. Rejecting this virtual life imprisonment, Chandra manages to flee and returns to Delhi, but her family disowns her for what she has done. In the end, Chandra's own determination, her faith in the Hindu goddess Kali, and a sympathetic grandmother provide the necessary help.

Chandra won overwhelming praise from reviewers, who found Hendry's presentation and plotting faultless. "This is an incredibly moving book, which is highly recommended," declared a Books for Keeps reviewer. An assessment in Junior Bookshelf offered similar pronouncements: "The story moves strongly, capturing the atmosphere of city and remote country while moving the drama onwards remorselessly," the critic stated. "It deserves to be read widely and seriously."

Hendry creates an entire utopian society in her books Atlantis and Atlantis in Peril. The first title, published in 1997, introduces a complex, highly developed sub-Antarctic world whose inhabitants make contact with a stranger they call "Giant" that threatens their well-ordered society. Hendry first details the Atlanteans' customs and peace-loving character, and then focuses on events that occur at the home of one particular family that, in the end, pose a host of moral quandaries for Atlantis as an independent entity.

Jo Goodman, reviewing Atlantis for Magpies, praised Hendry for presenting an unusual setting of cave-dwelling Atlanteans who keep warm from lava rivers, noting the "well thought out details" of their political and social hierarchy. "The characters are convincing … and there are some unexpected twists which challenge us to consider our own ideas of civilisation," noted Helen Allen in School Librarian. A reviewer in Books for Keeps also termed it "a very striking fantasy" set in "a richly imagined world."

Hendry once told SATA: "I belong to Glasgow, Scotland, by birth and affection, though I now live in Nairn. I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth. As an English/French/remedial teacher for more years than I care to remember, I at least learned which bits of books children don't read, so that I can avoid writing them. I collect dragons, and act them in the pantomimes I write and produce for the local drama club.

"All my books have two messages for my readers. First, that as Oliver Cromwell told Parliament, it is possible they may be wrong, so that bullying, fanaticism and prejudice, whether racial, religious, sexual, social or of any other variety, have absolutely no moral validity. And secondly, to take what the world throws at them and get on with it, noli vos carborundum illegitimi. Simple? Well, I was only a remedial teacher…."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Bookbird (annual), 2000, review of Chandra, p. 60.

Booklist, July, 1990, Barbara Elleman, review of Quest for a Maid, p. 2089.

Books for Keeps, November, 1995, review of Chandra, p. 11; January, 1998, review of Atlantis, p. 21.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September, 1990, p. 9.

Junior Bookshelf, June, 1995, review of Chandra, pp. 106-107.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1988, review of Quest for a Kelpie, pp. 538-539.

Magpies, March, 1998, Jo Goodman, review of Atlantis, p. 39.

Publishers Weekly, June 29, 1990, p. 102.

School Librarian, August, 1995, p. 117; November, 1997, Helen Allen, review of Atlantis, p. 213; autumn, 1998, review of Alantis in Peril, p. 158; winter, 2000, review of Chains, p. 212.

School Library Journal, June-July, 1988, Carolyn Cay-wood, review of Quest for a Kelpie, p. 117; December, 1990, Amy Kellman, review of Quest for a Maid, p. 121.

Times Educational Supplement, January 2, 1998, review of Chandra, p. 22; July 3, 1998, review of Atlantis in Peril, p. 22; September 22, 2000, review of Chains, p. 22.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 1990, Ann Welton, review of Quest for a Maid, p. 218.