Deryn Lake has published eight novels under the name Dinah Lampitt; these are currently out of print, but you should be able to order them through your local library. The good news is that one of them, The King's Women, will be reissued this summer.
The first three novels form the Sutton Place trilogy; the others are:
To Sleep No More
In the fourteenth century, Oriel de Sharndene, the beautiful daughter of a Sussex landowner, is married off to the retarded brother of the Archbishop of Canterbury; three centuries later, Jenna Mist, wife of the village carpenter, is hanged for witchcraft; in the eighteenth century, a highwayman captures the love of the delightful Henrietta Trevor - three apparently unconnected events. This panoramic novel skilfully interweaves past and present, fact and fiction, exploring the enigma of reincarnation through the ages.
Set in the village of Mayfield in Sussex, To Sleep No More opens in the tumultuous reign of Edward III when monarch and Church struggled for supremacy and ambitious noblemen aimed to better themselves by marrying their daughters well. Oriel accepts the Archbishop's half-witted brother Colin de Stratford to please her father but soon falls in love with the dashing Gascon squire, Marcus de Flaviel. A strange and touching friendship develops between the three but, when Oriel becomes pregnant, suspicions are aroused and Marcus disappears without trace.
But their souls cannot rest and the story follows them through the times of witchcraft persecution under James I to the troubled Georgian period when highwaymen and smugglers held sway.
Using the wealth of historical detail which made her Sutton Place trilogy such a success, Dinah Lampitt presents an enthralling picture of undying love, linked across the centuries by the enchanting Sussex village of Mayfield, where the Archbishop's palace still dominates the surroundings.
"Dinah Lampitt researches her books with care and weaves facts into a story that is satisfyingly romantic and impressively researched."
Publishing News
To Sleep No More was published in hardback by Michael Joseph Ltd in 1987 (ISBN: 071812619X). It was subsequently published in paperback by Coronet Books (ISBN: 0340425415).
Pour the Dark Wine
In Pour The Dark Wine, Dinah Lampitt again shows her ability to interweave fact and fiction to create an historical novel of impact and passion. The story of the rise and fall of the Seymours was dramatic in its own right and her imaginative skills and impeccable research cast new light on one of the most exciting periods in English history.
The Seymours were one of the most powerful families under the Tudors. Jane became Henry VIII's third wife. Thomas married his widow and engaged in an ambiguous relationship with the young Elizabeth while Edward became Protector but ended his life on the scaffold.
This novel reinterprets the role of Jane and looks in detail at the life of Thomas, the most glamorous of the Seymours. Introducing into the story the astrologer Zachary, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Norfolk, who played a pivotal role in the Sutton Place trilogy, Dinah Lampitt has given us her strongest novel yet, a triumph of storytelling based on actual historical fact.
"A cracking good plot."
The Times
Pour The Dark Wine was published in hardback by Michael Joseph Ltd in 1989 (ISBN: 0718129954). It was subsequently published in paperback by Coronet Books (ISBN: 0340530316).
The King's Women
The King's Women was originally published (under the name Dinah Lampitt) as a Hodder & Stoughton hardback in 1991. It is now reissued in paperback by Allison & Busby, credited to Deryn Lake. order the new edition of The King's Women now..
A captivating tale of intrigue,lust, power and mystery about the great King Charles VII of France and the women who inspired and loved him - women closely linked to the Knights Templar and The Priory of Sion, and who played a key part in history, shaping the destiny of men...
Read more about historical vovels by Deryn Lake.
As Shadows Haunting
To attract the eye of England's young George III, all Lady Sarah Lennox had to do was smile. Enchanting, beautiful, and filled with passionate desires, she thought the glittering balls and flirtations of London Society were a game - and becoming a king's wife the great prize. Her only warning that something could go wrong was her mysterious connection to a woman from another time, who appeared and disappeared like a ghost.
In fact, Sidonie Brooks, a twentieth-century concert musician, thought she was going mad when time shifted and left her wandering about a long-vanished English manor. She didn't understand what forces drew her again and again into the past. But in the intrigues that began to sweep Lady Sarah to the edge of ruin, Sidonie would discover her purpose in crossing two centuries--and find the fate this astonishing affinity had in store for both of them.
Steeped in Georgian wit and vigour, this is the compelling story of two vibrant, enchanting women who glimpse each other first in astonishment, then in affinity across the centuries.
"Sympathetically told, and the lives of the twin heroines touch and part in a very convincing manner."
The Times
"She has a strong sense of history and an uncanny ability to bring it to life."
Daily Mail
As Shadows Haunting was published in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton in 1993 (ISBN: 0450533816). It was subsequently published in paperback; the image shown is the cover of the Coronet Books paperback edition (ISBN: 0340604026).
Banishment
Nichola Hall, acclaimed actress and collector of men, has an infamous reputation. Sensual, lithe and utterly sexy, Nichola is a hedonist without remorse - or friends. So when she wakes up from an experiment in hypnosis to find herself in the body of Arabella, beautiful step-daughter of the unappealing Sir Denzil Loxley, she is hardly equipped for life in the seventeenth century.
Shocked to discover she has an attractive Parliamentarian lover and a new-born child, and is in the camp of the losing Royalists, Nichola's main objective is to get back to her own time. Yet she can hardly explain what has happened without risking being accused of witchcraft. And anyway, there is a more immediate problem to confront: the lecherous attentions of Sir Denzil.
Rescued by one of the King's noblemen, the dashing Lord Joscelin Attwood, Nichola suddenly realises she is rather enjoying playing the part of Arabella. Then slowly, insidiously, she finds that the part is becoming more real than her own identity. And it dawns on her that she is no longer acting. The old heartless Nichola Hall has actually fallen in love. And she is ready to face the dangerous wiles of her step-daughter, to deny herself the delights of Prince Rupert and to brave the bloody fighting for the sake of a loved one who has brought her back across the centuries.
Romantic, raunchy and intriguing, Banishment is a compelling story set against the evocative, wonderfully crafted backdrop of the Civil War.
Banishment was published in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton in 1994 (ISBN: 0450587843). It was subsequently published in paperback.