Cynthia Harnett was a highly acclaimed English writer of children's historical fiction

Historical fiction

Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

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Known for her exceptional attention to detail and meticulous background research, combined with ingenious and engrossing plots, Harnett wrote only seven novels. The Wool-Pack won the Carnegie Medal

Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

 in 1951. Harnett was a graduate of Chelsea School of Art, and she personally illustrated several early editions of her novels.

Books

• The Pennymakers by Vernon Stokes and Cynthia Harnett. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1937. 127pp., 14 line drawings.
• To Be A Farmer's Boy (1940) with Vernon Stokes
• The Great House (1949)
• The Wool-Pack
  The Wool-Pack
  The Wool-Pack is a children's historical novel by Cynthia Harnett. It was first published in 1951, and received the Carnegie Medal for the outstanding children's book of that year.A television adaptation of the novel was broadcast by the BBC in 1970....
  
   (1951)
• Ring Out Bow Bells!
  Ring Out Bow Bells!
  Ring Out Bow Bells! is a children's historical novel by Cynthia Harnett. It was first published in 1953, and later reprinted as The Drawbridge Gate. It is the story of an apprentice in the time of Henry V, when Dick Whittington was Lord Mayor of London....
  
   (1953)
• Stars of Fortune (1956)
• The Load of Unicorn
  The Load of Unicorn
  The Load of Unicorn is a children's historical novel written and illustrated by Cynthia Harnett. It was first published in 1959, and was republished by Egmont Classics in 2001. It is set in London in the fifteenth century, and concerns the adventures of an apprentice of William Caxton, the printer...
  
   (1959)
• The Writing on the Hearth
  The Writing on the Hearth
  The Writing on the Hearth is a children's historical novel by Cynthia Harnett and illustrated by Gareth Floyd. It was first published in 1971 and was reissued in a special edition by Ewelme School in 2002.-Setting:...
  
  (1971) with Gareth Floyd