Christine Marion Fraser (24 March 1938 – 22 November 2002) was a Scottish author of popular fiction.

Background

She was born in Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

, Glasgow, and was raised in a tenement

Tenement

A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...

, the eighth child of a shipyard worker and his wife. As a child, she developed a calcium condition and was left wheelchair bound for life.

Works

Fraser was best known for her four continuing family sagas, all of them set in Scotland. Her books sold over three and a half million copies, mostly in her native Scotland but also across the English-speaking world

Her first novel Rhanna was published in 1978 and was followed by seven sequels. The Rhanna series detailed the lives of the residents of a small fictitious Hebridean

Hebrides

The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...

 island of the same name.

Her second series was the five-book King's Croft series, begun in 1986, which was set in 19th century Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

. She followed that in 1994 with the Noble series, set in Victorian-era Argyll

Argyll

Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...

.

Her fourth and final series, begun in 1998, were the Kinvara stories, four novels about lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 keepers on an Outer Hebridean island.

She also wrote a series of autobiographical

Autobiographical novel

An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fiction elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction...

novels related to her life and upbringing in Scotland.

Rhanna

• Rhanna (1978)
• Rhanna at War (1980)
• Children of Rhanna (1983)
• Return to Rhanna (1984)
• Song of Rhanna (1985)
• Storm Over Rhanna (1988)
• Stranger on Rhanna (1992)
• A Rhanna Mystery (1996)

Kings

• King's Croft (1986)
• King's Acre (1987)
• King's Exile(1989)
• King's Close (1991)
• King's Farewell (1993)

Kinvara

• Kinvara (1998)
• Kinvara Wives (1999)
• Kinvara Summer (2000)
• Kinvara Affairs (2001)

Autobiographical series

• Blue Above the Chimneys (1980)
• Roses Round the Door (1986)
• Green Are My Mountains (1990)
• Beyond the Rainbow (1994)

Other Work

• Ullin Macbeth (1996)
• The Poppy Field (1997) (with Frank Ian Galloway)
• Out of the Past (1997)
• Wild Is the Day (1997)

External links

• Christine Marion Fraser Obituary