Meriol Trevor (15 April 1919 – 12 January 2000) was a British Roman Catholic writer of children's books, historical novels and biographies. Her two-volume biography of Cardinal Newman won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1963.

Biography

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Meriol Trevor was born in London and grew up in Kent and Cambridge.[1] She was educated at Perse Girls' School, Cambridge and St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she studied classics and philosophy.[2] After graduating from Oxford in 1942, she took several temporary jobs before going to Italy after the war to help with reconstruction.[1] After encountering Catholic culture in Italy, she became a Roman Catholic in 1950.[2]

Her children's books strongly reflect her Catholic faith, presenting themes of conflict and redemption often in mythic form. A number of her historical novels are set in Romano-Britain and early Christian Europe.[2] Her two-volume biography of Cardinal Newman, Newman: The Pillar of Cloud and Newman: Light in Winter, published in 1962, received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography.[3]

From the 1960s, Trevor lived in Bath, Somerset.[2] In 1967 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[1]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • The Last of Britain (1956)
  • The New People (1957)
  • A Narrow Place (1958)
  • Shadows and Images (1960)
  • The City and the World (1970)
  • The Holy Images (1971)
  • The Two Kingdoms (1973)
  • The Fugitives (1973) (Luxembourg series 1)
  • The Marked Man (1974) (Luxembourg series 2)
  • The Enemy at Home (1974) (Luxembourg series 3)
  • The Forgotten Country (1975) (Luxembourg series 4)
  • The Treacherous Paths (1976) (Luxembourg series 5)
  • The Fortunate Marriage (1976) (Warstowe Series 1)
  • The Civil Prisoners (1977) (Warstowe Series 2)
  • The Fortunes of Peace (1978) (Luxembourg series 6)
  • The Wanton Fires(1979) (Warstowe Series 3)
  • The Sun with a Face (1982) (Warstowe Series 4)
  • The Golden Palaces (1986)

Books for children

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  • The Forest and the Kingdom (1949) (World Dionysius Novels 1)
  • Hunt the King, Hide the Fox (1950) (World Dionysius Novels 2)
  • The Fires and the Stars (1951) (World Dionysius Novels 3)
  • Sun Slower, Sun Faster (1955)
  • The Treasure Hunt (1957)
  • Merlin's Ring (1957)
  • The Other Side of the Moon (1957)
  • The Caravan War (1958)
  • The Sparrow Child (1958)
  • Four Odd Ones (1958)
  • William's Wild Day Out (1963)
  • The Rose Round (1963)
  • The Midsummer Maze (1964)
  • Lights in a Dark Town (1964)
  • The King of the Castle (1966)
  • The Crystal Snowstorm (1997) (Letzenstein Chronicles Book 1)
  • Following the Phoenix (1998) (Letzenstein Chronicles Book 2)
  • Angel and Dragon (1999) (Letzenstein Chronicles Book 3)
  • The Rose and Crown (1999) (Letzenstein Chronicles Book 4)

Poetry

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  • Midsummer, Midwinter and Other Poems (1957)

Nonfiction

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  • Newman: The Pillar of the Cloud (1962)
  • Newman: Light in Winter (1962)
  • Newman Today (1963) (23-page Catholic Truth Society pamphlet)
  • Newman: A Portrait Restored. An Ecumenical Revaluation (with John Coulson and A.M. Allchin) (1965)
  • Apostle of Rome: A Life of St Philip Neri, 1515-1595 (1966)
  • Pope John (1967); new edition Pope John: Blessed John XXIII (2000)
  • Prophets and Guardians: Renewal and Tradition in the Church (1969)
  • The Arnolds: Thomas Arnold and His Family (1973)
  • Newman's Journey (1974)
  • The Shadow of a Crown: The Life Story of James II of England and VII of Scotland (1988)
  • John Henry Newman: Apostle to the Doubtful (with Leonie Caldecott) (2001)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Meriol Trevor". Bethlehem Books. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Matthews, Caitlin (31 January 2000). "Meriol Trevor". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Biography winners". The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
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