Genevieve Lyons

Life
fl.1986-2000; b. and ed. Dublin; actress, founded Globe Theatre; lives in London, has dg. Michelle; author opf numerous romantic novels commencing with Slievelea (1986), tracing four generations of Irish families since the Famine, and based on a house of that name; The Green Years (1987), which continues story of Slievelea and friendship with Ashling and Camilla; also Dark Rosaleen (1988) and A House Divided (1989), a story of an Irish family in rebellion against a despotic parent during World War I; others are partly set in Italy, involving gangers and abuse; the publishers of successive editions of her much-traded titles incl. Little, Brown; Viking; MacDonald, Futura, &c. ATT

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Works
Novels
  • Slievelea (London: Little, Brown 1986); Do. (London: Macdonald, 1986), 426pp.; Do. [new edn.] (London: Futura 1987), 426pp.; Do. [large print edn.](Leicester: Ulverscroft 1989), 688pp.
  • The Last Inheritor (Doubleday Ireland [Delacorte Press] 1987), 395pp., ill. by Bill Creevey [Garden City: Doubleday 1987; First US Edn.].
  • The Green Years (London: Macdonald 1987), 352pp., ill. [some col.]; Do. (London: Futura 1988), 352pp.; Do. [large print] (Leicester: Ulverscroft, 1989), 540pp.
  • Dark Rosaleen (1988); Do. (London: Macdonald 1988), 426pp.; Do. (London: Futura 1989), 426pp.
  • A House Divided (London: Macdonald 1989), 356pp.; Do. (London : Futura, 1990), 391pp. .
  • Zara (London: Macdonald 1990), 429pp.; Do. (London: Futura 1991), 429pp.; Do. [large print] [Windsor Selection Ser.] (Chivers Press 1992), 488pp.
  • Palucci Vendetta (London: Macdonald 1991), Do. (London: Warner Books 1992), 429pp.; Do. (Long Preston : Magna Large Print Books, 1993), 625pp.
  • Summer in Dranmore (London: Little, Brown & Co., 1992), 432pp.; Do. (London: Warner Books 1994); and Do. [large print] (Long Preston: Magna Large Print Books, 1994), 600pp.
  • Foul Appetite (London: Little, Brown 1994), 376pp.; Do. [new edn.] (London: Warner Books 1995), 376pp.
  • Demara’s Dream (NY: Little, Brown 1994), 515pp.; Do. [new edn.] (Warner Books 1995), 515pp.
  • The Lovely American (London: Little, Brown 1995), 376pp.; Do. (London: Warner Books 1996), 384pp.
  • The Perfect Family (London: Little, Brown 1996), 357pp.
  • Poppy Penhaligon’s Progress (Sutton: Severn House 1996), 282pp.
  • Lucy Leighton’s Journey (Sutton: Severn House 1996). [to Capri].
  • Perdita’s Passion (Sutton: Severn House 1997), 256pp.
  • The Other Cheek (London: Little, Brown 1998), 309pp.; Do. (London: Warner Books 1999), 320pp.
  • Daniella’s Decision (Sutton: Severn House 1999), 214pp.
  • Alice’s Awakening (Sutton: Severn House 2000), 214pp.
  • The Drowning of Alison Alyward: A Mark Dangerfield Detective Novel (q. pub. 2001), q.pp.
Omnibus collections
  • Lucy Leighton’s Journey [&] Perdita’s Passion (1996).
  • Daniella’s Decision [&] Poppy Penhaligon’s Progress (1999) .

For plot-summaries, see Notes - infra

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References
There is a Genevieve Lyons webpage at Fantastic Fiction [online; accessed 17.11.2009].

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Notes

COPAC copy of titles and publishers’ notices

Sleivelea (1987): Set in Ireland during the 19th century, this book follows the fortunes of three families who live in and around the estate of Slievelea. Passion, obsession, intrigue, treachery, terror and murder feature heavily in this Irish saga. (See Fantastic Fiction - online, and COPAC - online).

A House Divided (1989): a saga of a family split apart by the fortunes of love and war. The advent of World War I blows apart established Victorian values and Garreth, a despotic family head, is faced with rebellion from those he dominated. (See COPAC - online.)

Zara (1990): Follows the adventures of a young Russian heiress whose life is turned upside down when the Bolsheviks seize power. She is looked after by some cousins but cannot forget the loss of her family and the disappearance of her step-brother. (See COPAC - online.)

The Palucci Vendetta (1991): A story set in Sicily, England and gangster-controlled Chicago, tracing the fortunes of an Italian family whose lives are irrevocably altered by the consequences of a tragic accident in the forest near their Sicilian farm. (See COPAC - online.)

Summer in Dranmore (1994): Every year the O’Shea family plus their relations take a two-week break away from their dull Dublin lives and holiday on the Irish coast at Dranmore. But this year their vacation will be far from restful. (See COPAC - online.)

Demara’s Dream (1994): Demara’s dream is to build a house near Ballymore. Sent to England by her father to earn money to pay for his tenancy, it seems an impossible wish. She travels with her sister Maeve to London and they start their climb up the social ladder. However, back in Ireland, it is the time of the evictions. (See COPAC online.)

The Lovely American (1995): set in Dublin, 1949 where the wealthy Ardmore family live life to the full but any disobedience by the children is met with a birching. Daughter Vanessa defies her parents by marrying an American, Glenn, but when the Ardmore family business falls apart, Glenn saves the day, effecting a family reunion. (See COPAC online.)

Foul Appetite (1995): Set in 1950s Dublin, it tells the story of a mentally imbalanced Lonny Clebber, a diligent young undertakers’s assistant who is also brutal rapist and of the young women and their families whose lives he destroys. When he actually murders one of his victims, the police net around him tightens - but will it close before he can strike again? (See COPAC - online.)

Daniella’s Decision (1999) - concerns runaway housewives; self-realisation; husbands; life-changing events; London; Rome (see COPAC - online).

The Perfect Family (1996): Set in Dublin in the late 1940s, this is the story of the Floods, a family who appear perfect on the surface. But all is not as it seems - Cora harbours erotic thoughts about her confessor, Roddy has a mistress, Ossian is ruthless and ambitious and Fidelma spoilt and vain. (See COPAC - online.)

The Other Cheek (1998): Lydia works in the family chocolate shop in 1950s’ Dublin. When her mother dies, the family solicitor alters her will so that he and Lydia’s two "messer" half-brothers have a share of the business, which they then sell. Lydia doesn’t seek revenge, but the men’s sins are fated to be discovered. (See COPAC - online.)

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