Reay Tannahill

Author Information
Reay Tannahill's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    9 Books (2 Series)
  • First Book:
    January 1983
  • Latest Book:
    November 2007
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About the Author

Reay Tannahill was born on December 9, 1929 in Glasgow, Scotland, where she brought up. Her forename was the maiden name of her mother, Olive Reay. She was educated at Shawlands Academy, and obtained an MA in History and a postgraduate certificate in Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow. In 1958, she married Michael Edwardes but the marriage ended in divorce in 1983, he died in 1990. Until her death on November 2, 2007, she lived in a smart terrace house in London near Tate Britain.

Before started to write, she worked as a probation officer, advertising copywriter, newspaper reporter, historical researcher and graphic designer. She published her first non-fiction book in 1964. The international success came with the novel Food in History, her publisher suggested a companion volume on the second great human imperative, Sex in History. For her 2002 revised edition of 'Food in History, she won the Premio Letterario Internazionale Chianti Ruffino Antico Fattore. She also wrote historical romance novels, and in 1990, her novel Passing Glory won in 1990 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. She belonged to the Arts Club and the Authors' Club, and was chairman of the latter from 1997 to 2000.

Full Series List in Order

Dame Constance de Clair

1 - Having the Builders In (Nov-2006)
2 - Having the Decorators in (Nov-2007)

Related Books

1 - The World, the Flesh and the Devil (Jan-1985)
2 - A Dark and Distant Shore (Jan-1983)

Book List in Order: 9 titles

  • A Dark and Distant Shore

    Related Books - 2

    The story of one extraordinary woman's determination to win back her birthright - the remote and beautiful West Highland castle of Kinveil - sold by her father to a Glasgow merchant when she was seven years old. Kinveil is the castle, set above a swi...

  • The World, the Flesh and the Devil

    Related Books - 1

    In 1426, leaving her home in the sun-bleached courts of Avignon, seventeen-year-old Ninian rides into the darkness and strife of Scotland to marry a stranger. Her path crosses that of Gavin Cameron of Kinveil, priest and Chancellor of Scotland. L...

  • Passing Glory

    This is both a love story and family saga spanning 50 years in the shipping industry in Clydesdale. When Matt Briton, aged four, disgraced himself at Queen Victoria's funeral, the repercussions echoed down fifty years and across two world wars. Ma...

  • In Still and Stormy Waters

    Set between 1856 and 1898, this is the story of two women - rivals for the inheritance of a Scottish castle and the love of one man. The action takes place on both sides of the world, from eventful, bustling Hong Kong to the misty, mysterious Highlan...

  • Return of the Stranger

    A saga set in Edwardian Scotland, England and London, focusing on the return of a long-lost brother who sets the family cat among the pigeons. Tassie Smith is only a child when a stranger appears on her mothers' doorstep claiming to have inherited...

  • Fatal Majesty

    Returning from France to rule Scotland, young Mary faces a byzantine web of intrigue as friends conspire to grab the throne of England and enemies conspire to kill her. Returning from the sophisticated French court to take up her throne in cold a...

  • The Seventh Son

    A family saga in the grand tradition, a tale of brother against brother, cousin against cousin, of love, hate and intrigue, of women inescapably entangled in the fates of their men, and of a mystery that has exercised people's minds for more than fiv...

  • Having the Builders In

    Dame Constance de Clair - 1

    A delightfully witty and utterly charming novel that will have resonance for anyone today who has ever had, or contemplated!Having the Builders In.Dame Constance de Clair has a remarkable talent for getting what she wants. And, at this precise moment...

  • Having the Decorators in

    Dame Constance de Clair - 2

    After months of Having the Builders In, Dame Constance's castle, Vine Regis, is her own again. Finally she can begin decorating her new extension. Or so she thinks... Unfortunately it's not just her Italian decorator's choice of colours that are revo...



Award-Winning Books by Reay Tannahill

Passing Glory
1990 RoNA -- Romantic Novel of the Year


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Reay Tannahill has published 9 books.

Reay Tannahill does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Having the Decorators in, was published in November 2007.

The first book by Reay Tannahill, A Dark and Distant Shore, was published in January 1983.

Yes. Reay Tannahill has 2 series.
Pseudonyms / Co-Author
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