The Carringtons of Helston

by Malcolm Macdonald

Overview

When this book was published by St Martin's Press in New York and Piatkus in London, in 1997, it attracted the following notices:
Ultraprolific Irish author Macdonald's 27th book ... an amiable story full of iron-fibered characters and their agreeable wisechat as Macdonald unspools from his heart long passages of period description that seemingly celebrate his own powers of memory and the tug of the past. Appealing calendar art brought to life on a tide of romantic passion and much tartly genial irony. — Kirkus
Macdonald sprinkles his tales with credible historical details and Cornish colloquialisms but he is at his best when writing straightforward narrative. For all its subplots and quaint village characters, the novel unfolds with a light enough touch to satisfy most readers of the genre — Publishers Weekly
Lengthy but well written, this could have been a lot worse — Newcastle Evening Chronicle
Another splendid novel from Malcolm Ross which reveals a true knowledge of Cornwall and the Cornish — The West Briton, Truro
An intriguing novel of family rivalry and Cornish life, with vivid portrayals of character and landscape — Kingsbridge Gazette, Devon
He is every bit as bad as Dickens – Martin Seymour-Smith

Product Details

BN ID:	2940045578448
Publisher:	Malcolm Macdonald
Publication date:	01/09/2014
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Malcolm Macdonald
[full name: Malcolm John Ross-Macdonald]

born 29 February 1932 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire; eldest son of a Scottish power engineer and a Welsh mother.

educated Chipping Sodbury infants, Market Drayton junior (1939), Prestwick Academy (1940), Greys College, Port Elizabeth (1941-44), Chipping Sodbury Grammar (1945), Bedford School (1945-50: Higher Certificate in Physics, Zoology, Botany, Art); Falmouth School of Art (1950-54: National Diploma in painting) [interruption for national service, 1954-56]; Slade School, UCL, 1956-58; studied under Claude Rogers, Lucian Freud: Slade diploma in painting.

career
1958: Taught English as a foreign language in London; shared a flat with the poet Jon Silkin, the playwright David Mercer, and novelist Bernice Rubens (our landlady); wrote The Big Waves, a roman à clef. Left the ms with David Mercer.
1958-61: Taught English as a foreign language in Umeå, Sweden; helped organize Kopparhatten, an art-and-crafts cooperative; also several art exhibitions at the Länsmuséet. Wrote The Big Waves, a roman à clef. Left the ms with David Mercer, who sent it to Tom Maschler at Jonathan Cape, who accepted it.
1961: Returned to Cornwall, wrote a sequel (later rejected); took a job as encyclopedia editor with Rathbone (later Aldus) Books, London.
1962: Married Ingrid Giehr of Hamburg; published The Big Waves; wrote another sequel (also rejected).
1963: Moved to Hertfordshire, where we had two daughters. Worked as editor, series editor, executive editor at Aldus until 1965-72: Became freelance. Wrote guidebooks for BOAC, brochures for Alcan, newspaper and magazine articles, and, with Donald Longmore (consultant at the National Heart Hospital) Spare Part Surgery, Machines in Medicine, (both Aldus) The Heart (Weidenfeld). Other publications: The World Wildlife Guide (Threshold Books); Beyond the Horizon (Grolier); Every Living Thing and Life in the Future (Grolier - the first and last of a 12-volume series for which I was consultant editor, too); Doors, Doors, Doors (Alcan). Also consultant on future projects for Readers Digest Books Division in the great days of Peter Glemser. Also radio plays: Kristina's Winter and The Truth, Tomorrow - Maybe, Conditional People (and others that were rejected). Taught graphic design at Hornsey College of Art.
1973: Was encouraged by Richard Imison, Head of Radio 4 drama, to write four radio plays, intended as a pil...