I was born in Newbury, Berkshire, UK in 1943, and educated at Thornhill High School, Gwelo, Southern Rhodesia and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In 1970 I qualified in medicine and worked as a family doctor in the UK until 1983 when I sustained a back injury. I then decided to use my diagnostic skills in a different way and become a writer. I am married to Rachel.
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The Desire to Write
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Synopsis:
The romantic ruin of Corfe Castle stands at the heart of Dorset's Isle of Purbeck, a shadow of its former glory, but still with the power to draw thousands of visitors each year, all intrigued by the dramatic - and often dastardly - deeds that unfolded in and around its walls.
Perhaps the most enthralling event of all was the defence of the castle, for three long years during England's bloody Civil War, by Lady Bankes ('Brave Dame Mary). As the Parliamentary forces beseiged her, she held out, with only a handful of men, together with her daughters and her maidservants to assist her. Finally, having displayed 'courage beyond her sex', it was only by betrayal that she was defeated.
Dr Andrew Norman recounts the gripping tale, with verve and attention to historical detail, drawing on contemporary records to take the reader to the heart of the action.
'NO ONE COULD BE FAILED TO BE STIRRED, BY THE BRAVERY, AND SOMETIMES HILARIOUS INGENUITY - OF BRAVE DAME MARY AND HER GALLANT DOMESTIC BAND' - THE PURBECK ADVERTISER.
