Makepeace Hedley

3 primary works

A Catch of Consequence

by Diana Norman

Published 18 March 2002

At the time of greatest resentment and rebellion by the colonists against the British Government - and displaying the prejeudice shown by people on both sides - this novel centers around Makepeace Burke and her act of kindness by saving an English aristocrat from drowning.

Taking Liberties

by Diana Norman

Published 3 February 2003

A remarkable, sparkling historical novel by the author of A Catch of Consequence. Diana Norman's second book for us, published at the same time as the paperback of A Catch of Consequence, is another brilliant, stylish historical novel. Even though it is set in the eighteenth century, this novel like her previous one has rare contemporary echoes. Two women, both searching for apparently missing people, meet in the chaos of wartime Plymouth. Britain is at war with the French and the rebellious American colonies. But where the French captured by the British navy are recognized prisoners of war, the Americans are the non-combatants of their era. One woman, a young aristocrat recently saved by the death of her husband from a brutal marriage, is searching for the imprisoned son of a colonial friend: the other, a self-made woman, is looking for her daughter and companions, rescued from their destroyed ship but somehow lost on arrival in Britain.
The journey of discovery both women make through docks and prisons, government offices and brothels, palatial houses and smugglers hideaways, not only allows them to find the missing persons but also to forge an unlikely friendship and to find remarkable lovers. Finding liberty for others leads them to splendid liberty for themselves.

The Sparks Fly Upward

by Diana Norman

Published 5 September 2006

Few of those Philippa loves in London return her affection. Not the love of her life, who has a new bride. Not even her widowed mother, Makepeace Burke. So Philippa decides on a marriage of convenience to a prudish, if kind, man.

Across the Channel in France, the Reign of Terror is causing the beheading of thousands from the French nobility. Among those in danger is Philippa's friend, the Marquis de Condorcet. Not only has Philippa the means of rescuing him from the guillotine, she's got the courage. And as fate would have it, Philippa will find love where she least expects it-while staring death in the face.