Biography

Elinor Lyon was born in Guisborough, Yorkshire in 1921 and educated in Oxford before spending time in Switzerland and then reading English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. After serving as a radar operator during World War II, she married Peter Wright, whom she had met whilst he was teaching Classics at Rugby School where her father was headmaster. Elinor and Peter remained in Rugby until he retired in 1975, and now live in the countryside near Harlech in Wales.

Although Elinor wrote many books, the ones for which she is best known are those featuring Ian, Sovra and Cathie, and we will soon be publishing the first in the series – The House in Hiding. The books are set on the west coast of Scotland, around Arisaig and capture the essence of the area wonderfully. Although the writer has a distinctive voice of her own, the characters get into marvellous adventures in the best traditions of the genre. As Ian and Sovra say to their new friend Ann in We Daren’t Go A’Hunting: “Stay with us and you won’t be bored. You may be seasick or ship-wrecked or drowned or lost or burned or killed by falling over a cliff, but you won’t be bored.” However, adventure is only part of the story – the books also have strong themes of loyalty and friendship, without the chauvinism of some writers. The female characters such as Cathie and Sovra are seen as equal and capable rather than as ‘just girls’.

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Books

FidraBooks is a new publishing company, specialising in reprinting classic children's adventure fiction. At present the following Elinor Lyon titles are available:

The House in Hiding
Elinor Lyon
Ian and Sovra are thrilled when their father, Dr Kennedy, buys them a boat of their own. They make plans to cross the loch near their home on the west coast of Scotland and explore Castle Island. Here they discover a stone stairway hidden behind a waterfall and an abandoned shieling – the perfect place to camp. The arrival of the awful Mrs Paget and her irritating daughter, Ann, interferes with their plans to a degree, but Ian and Sovra still manage to explore the abandoned village of Kindrachill on the isolated Fionn-ard peninsula. There is a legend that when the village is left empty, the heir of Kindrachill will only return when a fire is kindled in the hearth of his own house. But the last heir, Alistair, was reported killed in the Far East some years before…
Preview of Chapter 1 available at FidraBooks.