Antonia Fraser Books In Order

Publication Order of Jemima Shore Books

Publication Order of A Royal History of England Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Women in History Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Antonia Fraser was an author of mystery novels, historian, and biographer. She was born in London England on August 27 1932 to Francis Pakenham, the seventh Earl of Longford. Her father who was a man of politics and government held a variety of cabinet positions under Harold Wilson who was the Prime Minister for two terms between 1964 and 1976. She was also known as an author and popular public crusader. Elizabeth Pakenham her mother was the Countess of Longford and is known for writing several popular long-form biographical pieces on Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, the Queen Mother, Churchill, and Wellington. As such, it was not surprising that Fraser would become an author given that she came from the Longfords, a family of writers. In addition to her other and father, Rachel Billington the novelist is her sister while another sibling is a feminist. Her brother was a historian and Flora and Rebecca her two daughters also followed in their progenitors’ footsteps in becoming authors.

Fraser went to school at the Catholic convent before she proceeded to Oxford University from where she graduated with a bachelor’s in 1953. As a teenager, she had converted to Catholicism which was the religion of her parents. When she turned twenty-three, she got married to Sir Hugh Fraser, a Scottish war hero, nobleman, and handsome catholic that was fifteen years older than her. Her husband had been a parliamentarian representing the constituency of Stafford for several years. As such, they usually shuttled between an island he owned in Inverness-shire in Scotland and London, when he had to attend to parliamentary duties. Together they had six children that included three daughters and three sons. However, their marriage went through hard times and they got divorced in 1977 though by this time, she had already been living with playwright Harold Pinter. She would get married to Pinter in 1980. As for her career, she started working as a general assistant to George Weidenfeld Publishers whose owner was a family friend. She would work on several novels during this time and particularly remembers editing out curse words from “The Adventure of Augie March” by Saul Bellow.

Antonia Fraser had tried her hand in writing from when she was a juvenile. Her first fictional work was the novel “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” that she published in 1954. She would then go on to publish several critically acclaimed works of non-fiction starting with the 1966 published work “A History of Toys.” Her breakout non-fiction work was the 1969 published “Mary, Queen of Scots” which was the winner of the JT Black Prize for biography, which had also been won by her mother in 1964. During this time, she also edited several writings such as “Oxford and Oxfordshire in Verse,” “Lives of the Queens and Kings of England,” “Mary, Queen of Scots,” and “Scottish Love Poems” among others. She would explode onto the mystery scene with the publishing of “Quiet as a Nun” in 1977. The first of the Jemima Shore series opened the floodgates and she would go on to publish more than ten titles. The series follows the life and times of a fashionable and intelligent television reporter named Jemima Shore. In no time, he novels became so successful that they would be made into a TV series that was televised to audiences in England.

“Quiet as a Nun” the debut novel of the “Jemima Shore” series by Antonia Fraser introduces the lead protagonist of the series. Jemima the investigative journalist’s friend named Rosabelle Powerstock is discovered dead. Her body was found in her convent in a tower where she had apparently locked herself in and then proceeded to starve to death. The Reverend Mother Ancilla who heads the convent calls in Shore to try to unravel the mystery of the death. Before her death, she had written in her journal and asserted that she wished to give up all the wealth she was to inherit from her parents. She had very wealthy parents and the estate included the land where her convent and the nearby school are built. She had declared that she would be giving all her inheritance to charitable institutions rather than the convent. Given that the convent was about to lose a lot there could be someone who had motive for killing the heiress.

Antonia Fraser’s “The Wild Island” opens to TV personality and investigator Jemima Shore arriving for a holiday at Inverness Station. It is Highland paradise but she is startled when hears someone ask why come all this way for a funeral. She was expecting fairy tale castles, romantic men in kilts, crystal clear streams, and heather-covered hills. What she gets is a strange world of violence, jealousy, and tension from the high-born Beauregard family who are obsessed with land. The novel is set on Wild Island, which can often be remote and sometimes enchanting. It is a place where the streams are sinister and brown rather than silvery. With its disturbing attributes, it has a lot of influence on the lives of its citizens and visitors. Living in such a bizarre setting, Clementina the wayward heiress, Father Flanagan the forthright old priest, and the family servant Bridie are nothing like what they seem. It is a thrilling story of intrigue and mystery on Wild Island.

Antonia Fraser’s “Oxford Blood” is the story of two investigations by Jemima Shore. An elderly woman who is an ex midwife asks that she visit her. She had helped in delivering Lord Saffron who is the heir apparent to one of the largest estates in the country. She tells Jemima a terrible secret about how they conspired at the birthing of the baby and that Lord Saffron might not be who everyone believes he is. The other investigation that is forced on Shore is a programme idea pushed by the Megalith Productions chairman. She is charged with profiling young and rich aristocrats and the wealthy and privileged lives they live. The chairman wants the programme to be named Golden Girls and Lads though it is ultimately changed to Golden Kids since they want to avoid an accusation of racism. Jemima takes on the programme while still investigating the Lord Saffron affair. But then Saffron’s neighbor at Oxford University is murdered and the investigations become even more serious.