Novels by Malcolm Macdonald
(a pen-name of Malcolm Ross-Macdonald)

The latest:
Rose of Nancemellin

Published by St Martin's Press and Piatkus 2001

She could impersonate her aristocratic mistress to perfection. It was both her undoing and her liberation. Headstrong Rose Tremayne knows right from the start that she won't last long as lady's maid to snobbish Lady Carclew of Nancemellin House. One day, when ‘the cat’ is a way, she dresses in her mistress's clothes when a half-drowned yachtsman, Louis Redmile-Smith is washed ashore. Revived, he falls in love with Rose, assuming her to be the daughter of the house. She is a gifted enough mimic — and sufficiently in love with him — to carry it off. Her deception is discovered and she is sacked. Louis, suddenly bankrupt, is unable to marry her or help. She joins a down-at-heel strolling theatre but is quickly propelled toward the London stage, which she takes by storm. But the long road back to Nancemellin, and Louis, is beset with many an adventure.

Publishers Weekly wrote: Prolific Macdonald's evocative yet over-long historical novel of theater life, set in London and America in the 1910s, is part Cinderella part Pygmalion. Spirited and intelligent Rose Tremayne is a Cornwall housemaid whose self-education and uncanny talent for mimicry provide her with the essential tools for a successful career on the stage. Despite an early connection with Louis Redmile-Smith, a man from the more privileged side of the tracks, when tough times come, unconventional Rose opts for taking a chance on her own. As she conquers first Drury Lane and then America, her and Louis's seesawing fortunes keep them apart. As many other men become interested, the question arises: is Louis really the man for her? None of the contenders for Rose's heart, including Louis, is so compelling as to make the reader root for one over the other. In fact, the focus here is on Rose's career rather than the potential romances. The budding actress's struggle to win fame and fortune is sufficiently compelling, though asides detailing the plots of plays, operas, and comedic skits prove trying for the reader. Rose is both energetic and pleasant enough to succeed in a leading role but she does commit one grave act of unfaithfulness that will make some wonder if she deserves a happily-ever-after.
Kirkus wrote: Macdonald's 30th doorstopper proves once again that a born storyteller can rise above genre clichés by sheer dint of good humor and a wealth of passions. ... Genuine fun.
He is every bit as bad as Dickens — Martin Seymour-Smith

available from Piatkus books

Jacket
Richard Jones
Artist Partners

The World from Rough Stones Published by Knopf and Hodder & Stoughton 1974 This is the first of the four-volume Stevenson Saga. It tells the story of two ambitious but poor young people who, at the very start of the Victorian Era (1839) combine their considerable talents to found a dynasty and go on to fame and fortune. When they first meet, John Stevenson is a navvy foreman working on the Summit Tunnel of the Manchester & Leeds Railway. A near-fatal accident brings young Nora Telling into his life. Her nimbleness of mind and his power of command enable them to take over the working, with John now as main contractor, and rescue it from catastrophe. The story was a sensation when it first appeared and New American Library paid almost half a million dollars for the paperback rights — a near-record for those days. Scenes of which Hardy would have been proud – Gillian Reynolds on Paperback Writer Was the word blackleg in use in 1839? – A.J. Ayer on Paperback Writer Rich and exciting – Washington Star Zestful research and Macdonald's mastery of the dialects and speech of all classes bring his novel noisily to life from the first to the last page – The [London] Times A luxuriant, wide-ranging novel ... Malcolm Macdonald knows how to grip the reader ... you keep reading – Boston Globe You can't put it down – Chattanooga Times A powerful new novel ... a successful attempt to blend fiction with authenticity. The story is rich with colourful characters, brawling, boozing. and bedding ... leaves the reader waiting impatiently for the next novel in what must be a memorable series – Yorkshire Evening Post Engrossing – a book to revel in – Charleston Evening Post An immense spectrum of life as the early Victorians lived it ... a marvellously told story alive with believable people – Tribune He is every bit as bad as Dickens — Martin Seymour-Smith
	Jacket artist Peter Goodfellow

	Jacket artist not credited

The Rich Are With You Always

Published by Knopf and Hodder & Stoughton, 1976

Continuing the Stevenson saga, we watch the seemingly inexorable rise to wealth and power of John and Nora Stevenson through the years of the Railway Mania and the financial crash which followed it. Though technically bankrupt and mired in debt, they have Nora's financial acumen to thank for their survival. But the strains have dire effects on their marriage, and mere wealth, they discover, is no recompense for unhappiness

There is enough plot material in [this book] to do for a thousand novels: the Irish potato famine, foxhunting, blackmail, adultery, the 1848 uprising in Paris, family feuds, the Crystal Palace, the rescue of fallen women ... on and on and on. Yet somehow he has put it all together without stumbling over him self. This is certainly not a great novel but a great number of people will enjoy it — Margaret Manning, book editor of the Boston Globe
He is every bit as bad as Dickens — Martin Seymour-Smith The Financial Times
[I always wanted that on my bookjackets — MM]
The sex is sprinkled on like parmesan cheese — Peter Porter, BBC Radio4
For sheer storytelling it is hard to beat Malcolm Macdonald. Each separate incident is as gripping as the story as a whole [with] a scrupulous care for period detail — W.J. Nesbitt Northern Echo

Jacket:
Tom Adams

Sons of Fortune

Published by Knopf and Hodder & Stoughton, 1978

The Stevensons are now one of the richest families in the world, but John, recalling his lowly past, wants children who obey to the letter and never put a foot wrong. But his four eldest children, Young John, Winifred, Caspar, and Abigail, have ideas of their own and the tensions threaten to pull the family apart

The impeccable recreation of Victorian reality makes compulsive reading – Tribune
One of the most enterprising historical sagas for many years – Yorkshire Post
Full-bodied, inventive stuff – The Guardian
Plum-rich ... in the best family saga tradition – Publisher's Weekly
Love and Conflict ... social history as a living force ... an unfolding panorama of Dickensian power – Cleveland Plain Dealer
Good entertainment ... highly recommended – Library Journal
Intense Drama .. the most achieved novel the author has written – Springfield News and Leader
He is every bit as bad as Dickens — Martin Seymour-Smith

The Jardin de Paris with
Ladies of the Night
by Jean Béraud
Musée Carnavalet/
Photo Bulloz

Abigail

Published by Knopf and Hodder & Stoughton, 1979

Her life is a mid-Victorian voyage of discovery — from the moment she tricks her maid, Annie, into telling her the facts of life to the moment when she comes to realize that the same shocking secret can be a glorious and life-enhancing mystery ... to the years of her success as a writer ... to the shame of a bastard child ... to the discovery of her parents' sordid past ... to the crowning moment when she sums it all up in an address to a packed hall of suffragists. Time and again she finds a resonance between her own experiences and Annie's, who, dismissed without a character, is forced into prostitution — with very unvictorian results

Malcolm Macdonald is a skilled storyteller who gets inside of his people and uses every inch of his vast canvas in action and relationship – Los Angeles Times
A cracking yarn by a born storyteller – Daily Mail
An enthralling Victorian saga – Daily Telegraph
Macdonald paints a very authentic picture of the times he sets his books in. He is very good on Victorian England. Abigail is a large, comfortable read. – [Irish]Sunday Press
An engaging mélange of adventure, sex, money, and not-too-ponderous social themes – US Booklist
A well written portrait of Victorian mores – US Library Journal
He is a marvellous craftsman, bringing the historical background effortlessly alive, peopling the foreground with a horde of memorable characters. His sense of history and awareness of authentic detail remain flawless – Tribune
He is every bit as bad as Dickens — Martin Seymour-Smith

Jacket:
Burne Jones:
Saevitia et Crudelitas
(detail)

What, if one may so put it, would Dickens be without a bit of Malcolm Macdonald?
Martin Seymour-Smith

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Novels by Malcolm Macdonald (a pen-name of Malcolm Ross-Macdonald)

The latest:Rose of Nancemellin