Elusive Harmony

By Mary Burchell

Lindley Harding was an opera singer nearing the end of his career; Laurence Morven was a new star – and rival – coming up over the horizon.

And Lindley’s daughter Natalie, who loved them both, found herself torn two ways as the bitterness grew between the two men. Was the situation going to ruin her life?

Mary Burchell was the pen name of Ida Cook (1904-1986). With her eldest sister Mary Louise Cook, she attended the Duchess’ School in Alnwick. Together, the sisters helped 29 Jews to escape from the Nazis, funded mainly by Ida’s writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honoured as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel. Mary Burchell published more than 125 romance novels in total and helped found the Romantic Novelists’ Association, standing as its president from 1966 until her death.