Angel Mountain Saga
Encyclopedia
The Angel Mountain Saga of seven novel
s was written by Pembrokeshire
author Brian John
, and was first published at the rate of one volume per year in 2001-2005, with a sequel in 2007 and another in 2009. The publisher is Greencroft Books, based in Newport, Pembrokeshire. The novels tell of the life and times of Mistress Martha Morgan, a feisty heroine who starts the series in 1796 as a pregnant and suicidal eighteen-year-old and finishes it by going to her grave in 1855. In the last novel she is resurrected (or is she?) and has further adventures in Merthyr Tydfil and further afield. The seven novels are "On Angel Mountain" (2001), "House of Angels" (2002), "Dark Angel" (2003), "Rebecca and the Angels" (2004), "Flying with Angels" (2005), "Guardian Angel" (2007) and "Sacrifice" (2009).
The novels have a cult following
and have now sold over 38,000 copies in total—a substantial total for a small regional publisher. "On Angel Mountain" was reprinted three times, and was then bought by Corgi, whose edition first appeared in March 2006. Corgi also published the second and third books in the series, but their sales were disappointing to the author, and the rights have now reverted to Greencroft Books.
The novels are all set in the rough landscape around the mountain of Carningli in North Pembrokeshire, which is now the scene of considerable "literary tourism" as fans of the series visit "Martha Morgan Country." In the marketing of these novels, as with other regional novels down through the years, the "sense of place" of the stories has been emphasised in book cover design and in the book marketing strategy.
In reviews Mistress Martha is referred to as "Mother Wales" in view of her complex and imperfect character, inviting comparisons with Chris Guthrie, the heroine and "Mother Scotland" who features in Grassic Gibbons' famous trilogy of novels called "A Scots Quair."
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s was written by Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
author Brian John
Brian John
Dr Brian S. John is the author of the historical-fiction series Angel Mountain Saga.John was born in Carmarthen, Wales. He studied at Haverfordwest Grammar School and at Jesus College, Oxford, where he read Geography from 1959 to 1962 and went on to obtain a D Phil for a study of the Ice Age in...
, and was first published at the rate of one volume per year in 2001-2005, with a sequel in 2007 and another in 2009. The publisher is Greencroft Books, based in Newport, Pembrokeshire. The novels tell of the life and times of Mistress Martha Morgan, a feisty heroine who starts the series in 1796 as a pregnant and suicidal eighteen-year-old and finishes it by going to her grave in 1855. In the last novel she is resurrected (or is she?) and has further adventures in Merthyr Tydfil and further afield. The seven novels are "On Angel Mountain" (2001), "House of Angels" (2002), "Dark Angel" (2003), "Rebecca and the Angels" (2004), "Flying with Angels" (2005), "Guardian Angel" (2007) and "Sacrifice" (2009).
The novels have a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
and have now sold over 38,000 copies in total—a substantial total for a small regional publisher. "On Angel Mountain" was reprinted three times, and was then bought by Corgi, whose edition first appeared in March 2006. Corgi also published the second and third books in the series, but their sales were disappointing to the author, and the rights have now reverted to Greencroft Books.
The novels are all set in the rough landscape around the mountain of Carningli in North Pembrokeshire, which is now the scene of considerable "literary tourism" as fans of the series visit "Martha Morgan Country." In the marketing of these novels, as with other regional novels down through the years, the "sense of place" of the stories has been emphasised in book cover design and in the book marketing strategy.
In reviews Mistress Martha is referred to as "Mother Wales" in view of her complex and imperfect character, inviting comparisons with Chris Guthrie, the heroine and "Mother Scotland" who features in Grassic Gibbons' famous trilogy of novels called "A Scots Quair."