Jane Lane (author)

Jane Lane (27 May 1905– 6 January 1978) was the pen name of Elaine Kidner Dakers, an English novelist and biographer. Her best-known books are historical novels set in the 17th and 18th century.

Jane Lane was born on 27 May 1905 in Ruislip, Middlesex, England.^[1] She was descended from Jane Lane, Lady Fisher. She is best known for her books about the Stuart period in English history and 18th-century Scotland, written from a Catholic and Royalist perspective.

Her novel, A State of Mind, is set in a dystopian future.^[2] The Tablet has described Lane as "one of the few contemporary writers who excel both as novelists and historians".^[3] Jane Lane died on 6 January 1978.^[1]

Novels

• Sir Devil-May-Care (1937) (English Civil War)
• He Stooped to Conquer (1944) (Massacre of Glencoe)
• Gin and Bitters (1945) (early 18th Century London and the South Sea Bubble)
• His Fight is Ours (1946) (background to the 1745 Rising)
• London Goes To Heaven (1947) (London under the Commonwealth and Protectorate)
• Parcel of Rogues: The Plot Against Mary of Scotland (1948) (Mary, Queen of Scots and the regencies)
• Fortress in the Forth (1950) (Jacobite prisoners on Bass Rock 1691–94)
• Dark Conspiracy (1951) (Rye House Plot against Charles II)
• The Sealed Knot (1952) (English Civil War)
• Lady of the House a.k.a. The Countess at War (1953) (English Civil War)
• The Phoenix and the Laurel (1954) (John Graham of Claverhouse)
• Thunder on St. Paul's Day (1956) (Titus Oates and the "Popish Plot")
• Conies in the Hay a.k.a. Rabbits in the Hay a.k.a. The Cross and the Tower (1957) (Babington Plot 1586)
• Sow the Tempest (1960) (Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon)
• Farewell to the White Cockade (1961) (Bonnie Prince Charlie)
• The Crown for a Lie (1962) (How James II lost the throne)
• A State of Mind (1964) (post-atomic future)
• A Wind through the Heather (1965) (Highland Clearances)
• From the Snare of the Hunters (1968) (Last days of Jesus of Nazareth)
• The Young and Lonely King (1969) (Prince Charles, Duke of Albany)
• The Questing Beast (1970) (English Civil War)
• Ember in the Ashes (1970) (Roman Catholics in 18th century England)
• The Severed Crown (1972) (Charles I)
• Bridge of Sighs (1973) (Mary of Modena)
• Heirs of Squire Harry (1974) (Edward VI)
• A Summer Storm (1976) (Peasants' Revolt, 1381)
• A Secret Chronicle (1977) (Edward II)

The Escape series (for younger readers)

• The Escape of the King (1957) (The young Charles II)
• The Escape of the Queen (1957) (Mary, Queen of Scots)
• The Escape of the Prince (1958) (Bonnie Prince Charlie)
• The Escape of the Duke (1960) (Charles I's son James, Duke of York)
• The Escape of the Princess (1962) (Clementina Sobieski)

Non-fiction

• King James the Last (1942)
• Titus Oates (1949)
• Puritan, Rake and Squire (1950)

• Jane Lane at Fantastic Fiction