Diana Norman/Ariana Franklin

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Fri December 3rd, 2010, 10:41 pm

That's sad to hear - I hope her health improves. It occurred to me that it was probably a reissue of The Morning Gift, which was published here in the '80s but vanished not long after and is now extremely rare. Putnam isn't one to do reissues, typically, but this could be a very worthwhile exception.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Sat December 4th, 2010, 2:07 am

Very sorry to hear she is or has been so ill. I really enjoy her novels. She just always makes me chuckle when I read her; I'm never uninterested. I hope she does have a speedy recovery, as I'm eager to read more of Adelia's adventures.

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Sat December 4th, 2010, 2:10 am

I"m almost finished with Daughter of Lir and there are some great funny moments in it as well as some great storytelling. I"ve read a couple of the books under the Franklin name and didn't like them as much as this one.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sat December 4th, 2010, 11:16 am

[quote=""cw gortner""]Very sorry to hear she is or has been so ill. I really enjoy her novels. She just always makes me chuckle when I read her; I'm never uninterested. I hope she does have a speedy recovery, as I'm eager to read more of Adelia's adventures.[/quote]

I heard it on the grapevine of an e-list several months ago from someone who knew a close family friend. I don't think it's common knowledge and I haven't heard any more about how Diana/Ariana has gone on since the initial news - I don't even know what what was wrong with her, only that it was considered very serious. But in the light of that news, it would very much surprise me if any new material was forthcoming so soon. Perhaps there's a contractual obligation to fulfill and the publishers are marking time by re-issuing one of her older titles.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat January 15th, 2011, 8:52 pm

Margaret has recently posted an excellent review of Diana Norman's Daughter of Lir, and I thought i'd add it here because it can be hard to find much about it around the place.

http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Daughter-of-Lir.html

DOL is one of my favourite DN novels (though possibly tied with Morning Gift). It doesn't have a happy ending, though in some ways it is a triumphant one, and readers of DN's Pirate Queen will find a connection there with Daughter of Lir.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Fri January 28th, 2011, 8:23 pm

Sad to report that Ariana Franklin passed away, yesterday I think. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, it's a shame that she was finding new success with the Adelina books; I for one enjoyed the first book, and hope her books will continue to bring enjoyment to readers.

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Fri January 28th, 2011, 8:38 pm

How sad. Here's a link to a BBC story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12309949

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Fri January 28th, 2011, 9:15 pm

I am terribly sad to read of her death. I knew she had been seriously ill for several months. We recently speculated that her next novel was going to be a re-issue of The Morning Gift and this seems very likely now - if they do issue it.

Elizabeth · Post by **Elizabeth** » Fri January 28th, 2011, 9:26 pm

Oh, no. I am so sorry to read this.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat January 29th, 2011, 12:16 am

I'm so sorry to hear that, though at least with EC's earlier mention of a serious illness it's not come as a total shock.

I feel sad that her work never quite got the recognition it deserved until recently, and that she didn't have much time to enjoy her new fame.