The Sky with Diamonds [title in Britain]
Honour and Obey [title in USA (and so spelled)]

Published by St Martin's Press and Hodder, 1988

When circumstances force Julia Somerville to take over the family's near-broke engineering business in 1925, she and a young American engineer on the payroll take it into the age of aeronautics.

• Readers who remember the '20s and '30s will credit Macdonald with effective depiction of that era. The heroine is a fascinating, brilliant, attractive woman who grows in character and understanding through harrowing but exciting adventures. Macdonald is skilled at keeping a good story going, particularly at setting times and places with compelling realism, which is a nice balance with romantic touches — Sunday Oklahoman
• Macdonald's last three novels have been called “sprawling, ” “plump, ” and “bloated ” in these pages. This one – an empty-headed saga about an empress of early aviation – breaks the scales — Kirkus
• Macdonald is an old pro and this smoothly written, fast-paced tale is what readers have come to expect from him — Chattanooga Times
• The book, supposedly written from the heroine's point of view, lacks a feminine touch — Indianapolis Star
• As usual, Macdonald's heroine is a perfect blend of intelligence, strength, and femininity — Columba The Midwest Review of Books
• He is every bit as bad as Dickens – Martin Seymour-Smith

Jacket artist
not credited

His Father's Son

Published by St Martin's Press and Hodder, 1989

When Patrick and Martha Davy adopt an illegitimate baby boy from the big house, everyone is sure he was fathered by the Prince of Wales on a visit to the Cotswolds in 1913. And Fitzie, as they nickname him, grows up under the same illusion. In fact, Patrick himself is the father – and he finds himself in lifelong competition with his son's illusion, spurring himself to ever-greater efforts to prove he is a better father than Edward Albert Christian George etc ever could be.

• Macdonald is the master of the sweeping, intergenerational love story — Publishers Weekly
• Joy, heartache, passion, and exuberance all combine to produce a most pleasurable read — Dundee Courier
• There are plenty of warm, comforting moments for the boredom-immune reader turning pages of an essentially gentle tale ... Anglophilic ambling with low-key chat and companionable people — Kirkus
• Macdonald has put together a tale of heredity and influence that teases us all to think about what moulds and shapes the character of each and every one of us in life — Kerry's Eye, Dublin
• Macdonald can always be relied upon to produce a novel with a theme a little diferent from the normal run of romantic fiction; strongly and realistically characterized so that the plot flows easily and naturally — Western Mail
• The usual powerful story from Mr Macdonald's talented pen — Yorkshire Evening Post
• He is every bit as bad as Dickens – Martin Seymour-Smith

Jacket artist
not credited

The Captain's Wives

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1991
and declined in America because the central character is male for a change!

Frank Morgan, captain of the barque Pegasus, always said he had two wives – Hilda and the sea. But in the spring of 1885, bound off for Boston with a cargo of poor Irish emigrants, a new and overwhelming emotion enters his iron-disciplined life, inspired by young Teresa O'Dee, who awakens long-buried memories.

• Brings to life not just the past but a memorable cast of characters — Newtownards Chronicle
• An interesting read, particularly for those with an interest in Victorian life and the place of the sea and ships in late Victorian times — Nautical Magazine
• A historical romance about life on the ocean wave that should keep his many readers happy — Oracle – teletext review
• Sounds promising but the plot loses its way and the ending is improbable — The Times [of London]
• He is every bit as bad as Dickens – Martin Seymour-Smith

Jacket artist
David Bergan

Dancing on Snowflakes

Published by St Martin's Press and Hodder, 1993

Chaperoned at every turn in her Dublin home, Katy O'Barry (aka Katarina Oberg) is sent by her exasperated parents to her uncle in Sweden – safely (they believe) beyond the reach of an unsuitable young man. But, prompted by the wife of the ship's captain on her way there, she lands in Stockholm determined to strike out on her own

• Our book of the week — Liverpool Echo (who intially reviewed it under the title Innocents Abroad so this was probably their way of saying sorry)
• Her story is told with great charm, and the setting in Sweden is beautifully described — Western Morning News
• Macdonald's style resembles a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta with sardonic twists; his fans will love this romp and most libraries will want to purchase — U.S. Library Journal
• Large scale romances are usually the domain of female writers but Malcolm Macdonald is a notable exception to the rule. He had runaway success with his first novel, The World from Rough Stones and here he keeps up the quality of his work — Evening Telegraph
• There is some charm in Macdonald's careful descriptions and in the aimlessness of the plot – many scenes consist of almost random, though always entertaining, gossip — but the charm runs out when he tacks on a forced ending ... that works against what the novel sets out to do: affirm Katya's independence from her parents and her sharpened insights about the men who pursue her — Publishers Weekly
• He is every bit as bad as Dickens – Martin Seymour-Smith

Jacket artist:
Alan D. Dingman