The five novels of the saga are almost impossible to classify. Yes, they are works of historical fiction -- but they are also love stories, mysteries, crime stories, allegories and regional novels. They are enjoyed equally by male and female readers -- and all the readers are more than a little intrigued that author Brian John, a happily-married father and grandfather, should have "taken on" so enthusiastically (and successfully) the persona of a strong and passionate female in the telling of the tales.

The full story of Martha Morgan's life came to Brian during a night of delirium on Gran Canaria in 1999, after he had picked up a nasty virus on the flight from London. The full narrative, complete with characters, places, twists and turns in the plots, and even detailed conversations came into his head and stayed there until it was all written down. He still feels, to this day, that the story was a gift, but he has no idea where it came from!

The first novel, "On Angel Mountain", covers just one year of the heroine's life, when she is still a nervous teenager learning how to survive in a brutal world. The second, "House of Angels", deals with Martha's time as a young mother who discovers her own strengths and who sets a complex trap for the evil men who have designs on her and her estate. The third book, called "Dark Angel", is the most inward-looking of the novels, dealing with the themes of motherhood and female insecurity in the context of an ultimately tragic lover affair.

Book four, entitled "Rebecca and the Angels", describes how Martha tries, in her middle age, to do something to make the world a better place -- and in so doing lands herself in a series of very dangerous situations. And the last novel, "Flying with Angels", covers the last years of the heroine's life, during which she has one last romantic fling and has to deal with a number of very determined and shadowy enemies.

The first three books are now available only in the Corgi editions, and volumes 4 and 5 are currently still available under the original Greencroft Books imprint.