The Gilded Lily : Beauty is skin-deep Blood runs deeper

Deborah Swift

Deborah Swift (born 1955), who has also written as Davina Blake, is an English writer of historical fiction, based in north west Lancashire. Her first published novel was The Lady's Slipper (2010), which alludes to the lady's slipper orchid found in the Silverdale area near her home. Levens Hall features as one of the locations of the book, which is set in 1660 and involves the persecution of local Quakers.[1] The Gilded Lily (2012) follows some of the same characters but moves the location to London and considers aspects of beauty and cosmetics. A Divided Inheritance (2013) starts in London in 1609 but the action moves to Seville during the expulsion of the Moors and reflects this turbulent period of European history.[2] Swift's Shadow on the Highway (2014) is the first of The Highway Trilogy of young adult novels, and is based on the life of highwaywoman Katherine Fanshawe, also known as Lady Katherine Ferrers.[3] The second in the trilogy, Spirit of the Highway (2015) is told in the voice of the ghost of a roundhead farmer's son who loved Katherine.[4] Lady of the Highway (2016) completes the trilogy