Doughty, Anne 1939- (Elizabeth Anne Doughty)

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Doughty, Anne 1939- (Elizabeth Anne Doughty)

PERSONAL:

Born August 7, 1939, in Armagh, Northern Ireland; married; husband's name Peter (a Cambridge historian). Education: Attended Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Belfast, Northern Ireland.

CAREER:

Writer. Former teacher in England and Belfast, Northern Ireland.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Irish Times Literature Prize longlist for A Few Late Roses.

WRITINGS:

A Few Late Roses, Headline (London, England), 1997.

Stranger in the Place, Headline (London, England), 1998.

Summer of the Hawthorn, Headline (London, England), 1999.

"HAMILTON" SERIES

On a Clear Day, Blackstaff Press (Belfast, Northern Ireland), 2002.

Beyond the Green Hills, Blackstaff Press (Belfast, Northern Ireland), 2003.

The Woman from Kerry, Severn House (London, England), 2003.

The Hamiltons of Ballydown, Severn House (London, England), 2004.

The Hawthorns Bloom in May, Severn House (London, England), 2005.

A Girl Called Rosie, Severn House (London, England), 2008.

For Many a Long Day, Severn House (London, England), 2009.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer Anne Doughty was born on August 7, 1939, in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Although she grew up primarily in Northern Ireland, Doughty moved to England for a time, and spent a number of years there before finally returning to Northern Ireland and settling in Belfast. Her writings are firmly rooted in the Ireland that she sees daily, and she draws much of her inspiration from the culture in which she was raised. A Few Late Roses, Doughty's debut novel, was named to the longlist for the Irish Times literature prize.

On a Clear Day begins in 1946, shortly after the end of World War II. Clare Hamilton, a nine-year-old Irish girl, finds her life upended once again just after it seemed to be finally getting back to normal, when both of her parents pass away from a typhoid epidemic. Clare and her younger brother William come from a large family with plenty of relatives to make sure that they are well taken care of, but a fulfilled life does not merely involve surviving in relative comfort. The family divides the children, with Clare finding herself sent off to Belfast to live with an aunt, while William remains in the countryside. Clare dislikes life in the city, and misses the more familiar country. When her grandmother dies as well, leaving Clare's grandfather, a blacksmith, alone on his small farm, Clare decides she should live with him in order to take care of him. Her aunt succumbs to Clare's persistent pleading, allowing her a short trial period with her grandfather to determine if she will really be happy, and just as Clare knew she would, she finally feels as if she has come home. In addition to giving readers a heart-warming tale of a girl struggling through difficult times, Doughty's work portrays the life of Protestants living in Northern Ireland. Patty Engelmann, in a review for Booklist, found the novel to be "sweet and captivating."

In The Woman from Kerry, Doughty introduces readers to seven-year-old Rose McGinley and her family, all of whom, along with a number of their neighbors, are victims of the Irish land clearances of 1861, which force them to leave their homes and find somewhere else to settle. The McGinleys end up in Kerry, Ireland, where Rose's mother takes a position as a housekeeper, and eventually Rose grows up and works as a lady's maid, serving Lady Anne, the eldest daughter of a wealthy land owner. However, Rose is not destined for service. She meets a young blacksmith named John Hamilton, and the two wed and move away to start their lives just outside Armagh, Ireland. Life is cyclical, though, and eventually Rose, with her new family, moves once more. In another review for Booklist, Engelmann stated that "Doughty has written a lovely story about perseverance through adversity." Doughty later revisits Rose and her family in The Hamiltons ofBallydown, at which point they have raised themselves up to a middle-class lifestyle, due to Rose's quick thinking in the face of adversity.

Beyond the Green Hills continues the story of Clare, whom readers first met in On a Clear Day. Now an adult, she is engaged to be married to a young man called Andrew whom she has been friends with since childhood. Attending college, she is also on the brink of completing her degree. The couple intends to leave Northern Ireland for Canada in hopes of finding their fortune in cattle. However, when a member of Andrew's family dies, he suddenly finds himself in charge of their estate. Clare decides to go off to Paris, France, on her own, where she puts her newly minted French degree to work in an attempt to find wealth there instead. A telephone call to an old friend leads her to a wonderful job, and she is soon successful and settled. However, something is still missing from her life and preventing her from being truly happy—Clare eventually decides she needs to follow her heart back home. Engelmann, again writing for Booklist, praised the book, stating that "Doughty's lovely story about searching for satisfaction and true love is filled with heartwarming characters."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 2001, Patty Engelmann, review of On a Clear Day, p. 703; June 1, 2002, Patty Engelmann, review of Beyond the Green Hills, p. 1680; August 1, 2003, Patty Engelmann, review of The Woman from Kerry, p. 1964; September 15, 2004, Maria Hatton, review of The Hamiltons of Ballydown, p. 218; April 1, 2006, Hatton, review of The Hawthorns Bloom in May, p. 8; March 1, 2008, Hatton, review of A Girl Called Rosie, p. 47.