Cynthia Harrod-Eagles


Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is a British writer of romance and mystery novels. She normally writes under her own name but also uses the pseudonyms Emma Woodhouse and Elizabeth Bennett. Cynthia was born on 13 August 1948 at Shepherd's Bush, London, England and wrote her first novel in 1972 while still at university.

Biography

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, England on 13 August 1948. She was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699. She then studied history, philosophy and English at the University of Edinburgh and University College London.
After leaving university, Cynthia had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, beginning as sales manager for the Coca-Cola Company in Edinburgh, and ending as pensions officer for the BBC in London. She started writing at university and, while employed, wrote in the evenings and during the weekends.
The birth of The Morland Dynasty series enabled her to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise 12 volumes but, as of 2015, the number of volumes has reached 35. She also writes the internationally acclaimed Bill Slider Mysteries.
Cynthia and her husband still live in London. They have three children. In addition to writing, her interests are, horses, wine, architecture, the English countryside, and music: she plays in several amateur orchestras.

Awards

Cynthia wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award for The Waiting Game.
In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award for Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.

As Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Single novels

The original idea for The Morland Dynasty series was a 'history without tears', fictional characters in a real historical background. The plan was for the whole run of British history from the Middle Ages to the Second World War to be covered in twelve volumes. The series now comprises 35 titles.
  1. The Founding Begins 1434 and covers the War of the Roses and Richard III
  2. The Dark Rose Begins 1501 and covers Henry VIII
  3. The Princeling aka The Distant Wood Begins 1558 and covers Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots
  4. The Oak Apple Begins 1630 and covers Charles I and the English Civil War
  5. The Black Pearl Begins 1659 and covers Charles II and the Restoration
  6. The Long Shadow Begins 1670 and covers Charles II and James II
  7. The Chevalier Begins 1689 and covers William III and Mary II, Queen Anne, George I, the Old Pretender
  8. The Maiden Begins 1720 and covers George I, George II, the Young Pretender,
  9. The Flood-Tide Begins 1772 and covers George III, American War of Independence, Enclosures
  10. The Tangled Thread Begins 1788 and covers The French Revolution, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution
  11. The Emperor Begins 1795 and covers the Rise of Napoleon
  12. The Victory Begins 1803 and covers the Regency, Beau Brummell, Industrial Revolution, Battle of Trafalgar
  13. The Regency Begins 1807 and covers the Napoleonic Wars, the Peninsular Campaign, the Industrial Revolution
  14. The Campaigners Begins 1815 and covers the Campaign of 100 Days and the Battle of Waterloo
  15. The Reckoning Begins 1816 and covers the Post War Slump, Chartism, Pentrich Revolution, Industrial Progress
  16. The Devil's Horse Begins 1820 George IV, the Factory Age, The Rainhill Trials, Liverpool and Manchester Railway
  17. The Poison Tree Begins 1831 and covers William IV, 1832 Reform Act, the Railway Pioneers
  18. The Abyss Begins 1833 and covers William IV, Victoria, the Railway Age, George Hudson
  19. The Hidden Shore Begins 1843 and Covers the Early Victorian Age, Philanthropy, Ragged School
  20. The Winter Journey Begins 1851 and covers the Mid-Victorian Age, The Great Exhibition, the Crimean War
  21. The Outcast Begins 1857 and covers the American Civil War, the Divorce Act, the first Underground Railway
  22. The Mirage Begins 1870 and covers the High Victorian Age, Franco-Prussian War, changes to medical training
  23. The Cause Begins 1874 and covers the High Victorian Age, Women's Rights
  24. The Homecoming Begins 1885 and covers Late Victorian Age, Oscar Wilde, Prince of Wales' set, Girls Education
  25. The Question Begins 1898 and covers Late Victorian/Edwardian, Automobile, Boer War, Suffragettes
  26. The Dream Kingdom Begins 1908 and covers Edwardian, Aviation
  27. The Restless Sea Begins 1912 and covers George V, Titanic, Cat and Mouse Act
  28. The White Road Begins 1914 and covers the beginning of World War I
  29. The Burning Roses Begins 1915 and continues World War I
  30. The Measure of Days Begins 1916 and continues World War I covering the Battle of the Somme
  31. The Foreign Field Begins 1917 and continues World War I, Passchendaele
  32. The Fallen Kings Begins 1918 and covers the end of WW1; Armistice; demobilisation
  33. The Dancing Years Begins 1919 and continues demobilisation and peace
  34. The Winding Road Begins 1925 and covers the Jazz Age; Wall Street Crash
  35. The Phoenix Begins 1931 and covers post-Crash depression; Hollywood and the Talkies

    The Kirov Trilogy

  36. Anna. Begins in 1803 and covers the Napoleonic invasion of Russia. Shortlisted for the 1991 RNA Novel of the Year.
  37. Fleur. Begins in 1851 and covers the Crimean War.
  38. Emily. Begins in 1910 and covers World War I and the Russian Revolution.

    Bill Slider Mysteries

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles admits the first novel in the Bill Slider series was written for relaxation and was never intended for publication but received good reviews being praised for its "nicely detailed prose" and approachable characters" and as a "masterful debut". The reviews for the second novel state "the author is well on her way to an outstanding series" New York Times Marilyn Stasio 21 February 1993, and proved to be true as to date, the series consists of 21 novels.
  1. Orchestrated Death
  2. Death Watch
  3. Necrochip aka Death to Go
  4. Dead End aka Grave Music
  5. Blood Lines
  6. Killing Time
  7. Shallow Grave
  8. Blood Sinister
  9. Gone Tomorrow
  10. Dear Departed
  11. Game Over
  12. Fell Purpose
  13. Body Line
  14. Kill My Darling
  15. Blood Never Dies
  16. Hard Going
  17. Star Fall
  18. One Under *
  19. Old Bones
  20. Shadow Play
  21. Headlong

    War At Home

  22. Goodbye Piccadilly
  23. Keep the Home Fires Burning
  24. The Land of My Dreams
  25. The Long, Long Trail
  26. Till the Boys Come Home
  27. Pack Up Your Troubles

    As Emma Woodhouse

Single novels

Single novels