The House on Gregor's Brae; South Island Stowaway; A Touch of Magic

by Essie Summers

The House on Gregor's Brae, HR-1535 - Once Gregor MacGregor had filled Jennifer's bleak life with joy - she'd never forget him. But years later, a second meeting proved disastrous. The now famous author was a sadly changed man - and living next door! Jennifer wasn't sure she could cope with the situation. South Island Stowaway, HR-1564 - Was it an accident or fate that brought Julia Merrill to Adam Dare's New Zealand sheep farm - and as a result wrecked his engagement? Julia felt duty-bound to reconcile the couple, but she had to admit to herself secretly that wasn't what she really wanted! A Touch of Magic, HR-1702 - Even after a stormy first meeting, Lucinda sensed that Giles Logie could be a real charmer. His reputation with women - and one married woman in particular - seemed to confirm the fact. Why, then, had she agreed to act as his fiancee?

574 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Essie Summers was a New Zealand author who wrote so vividly of the people and landscape of her native country that she was offered The Order Of the British Empire for her contributions to New Zealand tourism.

Ethel Snelson Summers was born on on July 24, 1912 to a newly-emigrated couple, Ethel Snelson and Edwin Summers, situated in Bordesley Street in Christchurch, Essie was always proud of both her British heritage and her New Zealand citizenship. Both her parents were exceptional storytellers, and this, combined with her early introduction to the Anne of Green Gables stories, engendered in her a life-long fascination with the craft of writing and the colorful legacy of pioneers everywhere.

Leaving school at 14 when her father's butcher shop experienced financial difficulties, she worked for a number of years in draper's shops and later turned her experiences to good use in writing the romantic novels for which she became famous.

She met her husband-to-be William Flett when she was only 13 years old, but it was 13 years before she consented to marry him. A minister's wife and the mother of two, William and Elizabeth, she still found many opportunities to pen short stories, poetry and newspaper columns before embarking on her first novel, which sold to the firm of Mills & Boon in 1956.

Summers died in Taradale, Hawkes Bay on the August 27, 1998.

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