Marion Chesney
Born 1936 · Died 2019
Marion Chesney was born in 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland. Her first job was a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While working there, the Scottish Daily Mail hired her to review variety shows; she quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to work as a secretary--albeit without typing or shorthand skills--in the advertising department of Scottish Field magazine but was soon the fashion editor instead. She moved to the Scottish Daily Express, where she reported mostly on crime, then to Fleet Street and the Daily Express, where she was their chief woman reporter.
Marion married Harry Scott Gibbons, and they had a son, Charles. Harry was offered a job as editor of the Long Island, New York, Oyster Bay Guardian, and the small family moved to the United States. The Oyster Bay job didn’t work out, and the trio moved to Virginia. Marion and Harry worked in the same greasy spoon in Alexandria--Marion waited tables, and Harry washed dishes. Happily, they both got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and returned to New York.
Marion wanted to spend more time at home with young Charles. In 1977, encouraged by her husband, she started to write historical romance novels, eventually publishing over one hundred books under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under a variety of pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester.
Books by Marion Chesney in order
Books by Marion Chesney in the order they were published, from My Dear Duchess (1979) to The Loves of Lord Granton (1997).
- 1My Dear Duchess
My Dear Duchess1979 - 2Lady Margery's Intrigue
Lady Margery's Intrigue1980 - 3Molly
Molly1980 - 4The Constant Companion
The Constant Companion1980 - 5The Marquis Takes a Bride
The Marquis Takes a Bride1980 - 6Quadrille
Quadrille1981 - 7Penelope
Penelope1982 - 8Poppy
Poppy1982 - 9The Ghost and Lady Alice
The Ghost and Lady Alice1982 - 10Diana the Huntress
Diana the Huntress1985 - 11Frederica in Fashion
Frederica in Fashion1985 - 12Lady Anne's Deception
Lady Anne's Deception1985 - 13Plain Jane
Plain Jane1986 - 14The Miser of Mayfair
The Miser of Mayfair1986 - 15At the Sign of the Golden Pineapple
At the Sign of the Golden Pineapple1987 - 16Lessons in Love
Lessons in Love1987 - 17The Paper Princess
The Paper Princess1987 - 18Rainbird's Revenge
Rainbird's Revenge1988 - 19Marrying Harriet
Marrying Harriet1990 - 20Belinda Goes to Bath
Belinda Goes to Bath1991 - 21Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death1992 - 22The Love Match
The Love Match1992 - 23The Dreadful Debutante
The Dreadful Debutante1994 - 24The Loves of Lord Granton
The Loves of Lord Granton1997