With All My Heart by Margaret Campbell Barnes | 1951

With All My Heart by Margaret Campbell Barnes, published by Macrae Smith Company, 1951. Condition is good. Please see photos for full details.

Condition notes: there is yellowing and wear to the cover, fading to the spine, and some damage to the page edges, all consistent with a well-loved copy of this vintage. The interior is otherwise very readable throughout, with some pages featuring attractive red print coloring that adds a distinctive visual character to the book.

Margaret Campbell Barnes (1891 to 1963) was an English writer of historical fiction whose life story is as compelling as any of her novels. The youngest of ten children born into a happy, loving family in Victorian England, she grew up in the Sussex countryside and was educated at small private schools in London and Paris. During World War II she served as an ambulance driver in the streets of London, and in August 1944 her son Michael, a lieutenant in the Royal Armoured Corps, was killed in his tank during the Allied advance in Normandy, a loss that affected her deeply and cast a shadow over her later writing. By the time of her death she had completed ten books, many of which were bestsellers, and all told about 2 million copies have been sold worldwide.

With All My Heart is a sweeping historical romance set in the court of King Charles II of England, telling the story of his devoted queen Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess who married into the glittering but treacherous world of the Restoration court and loved her husband faithfully despite his many infidelities. It is a quintessential example of Barnes at her most emotionally rich, bringing a relatively overlooked historical figure to vivid life with the warmth and humanity that made her one of the most beloved historical novelists of her era.

A wonderful addition for collectors of mid-century historical romance and fiction, English royal history, or Margaret Campbell Barnes titles specifically. Barnes's novels have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and her work has seen a strong revival of interest among readers of historical fiction in recent years, making original first run hardcover editions increasingly sought after by her growing readership.