Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy, Philippa Carr; Eleanor Burford, Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anne Percival, and Ellalice Tate. discussion
Forgotten?
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One morning, strolling the aisles of the school library my sophomore year of high school, I picked a book off the shelf at random and took it home to read after class. Two pages in, I knew that I had found that long-forgotten book once again, and greedily proceeded to reread it. Bride of Pendorric was just as engrossing the second time as it had been the first, and I returned to the library the next day eager to find more books under Holt’s name. The library only had two more of her novels, both of which I grabbed off the shelf.
Sitting in geometry the next week, my friends wanted to know what had me so distracted, so I reluctantly removed my nose from my literary find and held up the cover of On the Night of the Seventh Moonfor them to see. After describing the plot for them, they said they didn’t think it sounded too bad, and I offered to let them read it after I was finished. Two weeks later, the three of us were searching ebay for Holt’s entire catalogue.
Just a small sampling of my Holt collection
On the verge of obsession, I had a stroke of brilliance that led me to play up my mom’s antique habit, thus allowing me to troll through flea markets and antique malls searching for a copy of one of Holt’s books peeking out of a dusty bookshelf. Within a year, I’d collected every book published under her Holt pseudonym. Within two, I’d found all of her Phillippa Carr titles as well.
Popping open a Victoria Holt book is like popping candy: it’s addictive and satisfying, but ephemeral. It’s not long before you need your next dose, but luckily Holt was prolific, publishing over 150 novels under seven pseudonyms. Though each novel tends to follow the same basic format, providing a reliable dose of gothic atmosphere and romantic development amidst foreboding and danger for the heroine, Holt threw in enough surprise twists throughout her catalogue to keep you coming back time and again.
What’s more, the romance of Holt’s novels seems to be but a reflection of Holt’s own life. Eleanor Hibbert (as Holt went by in her non-literary life) left school at 16 to work for a jeweler, lending credence to the frequent importance of gems in her novels. After marrying a man twenty years her senior in her early twenties, Hibbert found that their shared love of literature enabled her to put her passion into practice. While at first, she attempted more serious fiction in the style of her literary heroes, among them the Brontes, Dickens, and Tolstoy, Hibbert eventually found success in the romantic and historic genres. After her husband’s death, Hibbert devoted most of her time to writing, save for taking a three-month cruise every winter (the destinations of which often later became settings for Holt novels). Hibbert died aboard the cruise ship Sea Princess, sailing between Greece and Port Said, Egypt, in 1993.
My early days as a book reviewer
For over a decade, whenever I have needed an escape or craved comfort, I have turned to my collection of Victoria Holt novels, and I have always found what I sought. Within a year of obtaining my collection, I had read all of her Phillippa Carr books, and the Holts had dwindled until only a few remained. Despite rereading favorite titles, I am reluctant to finish the last few and so have been saving them like bottles of fine wine, to be opened only in a moment of celebration or sorrow, when I can most appreciate them. They may not be among the best literature ever written, but for me, Victoria Holt’s books are old friends, always there when I need them.
"Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience." ~Eleanor Hibbert
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I remember discovering her books in the library also, when I was a teenager. I finished reading her books, and each time I would peek in the back and look at her photo, trying to picture her. I also would envision how it would be like, staying at home writing like she did. I also read somewhere that she wrote from an early age but her success truly began when she focused on romance. By that time she was already in her fifties. That goes to show that authors are never too old to write.
I discovered her books in the library as a pre-teen. I loved her Victoria Holt works then. I remember devouring them all. I have some reviews of them up on my Gothicked blog, etc. now as well. Her writing has influenced my own in the historical gothic romance/gothic romance genres. I don't think her work is forgotten. There are tons of fans out there--from what I've found out by reviewing her work/talking about her novels.
After signing books as Elbur Ford (a contraction of her birth name), she used pseudonyms including Jean Plaidy (a name taken from a Cornish beach), Philippa Carr, Kathleen Kellow and others, and wrote around 200 historical novels. She sold staggering amounts, in the region of 100 million copies. Lately, there have been some excellent reissues of the Plaidy titles, so it's a good time to rediscover Britain's most popular historical novelist. She was feted for blending accurate period detail with strong plots and rich characterisation, so what happened to "The Queen of Romantic Suspense"?
Burford was first published in 1941 for an advance of £30. Soon she was writing about Catherine de Medici, Charles II, Katherine of Aragon, Marie Antoinette and Lucrezia Borgia. Her style had enough gusto to draw polite applause from the critics, but her public adored her. This wasn't enough; she chronicled criminal cases, then embarked upon great cycles of novels in chronological order, covering the Normans, Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians and Victorians. She branched into gothic romance, mystery, non-fiction and children's books, and particularly enjoyed portraying feisty women of independence and integrity who fought for liberation.
Her viewpoints ring true; Hitler, she says in The English Are Like That, made the fatal mistake of frightening the English. Hamlet, she notes, is not incapable of action; he kills his man three times in the play. It's hard to find anyone with anything bad to say about her ideas, which makes her disappearance even stranger.
Perhaps her ubiquity rendered her disposable; popularity rarely guarantees posterity. Then there were those horrible pastel covers that reminded one of Quality Street chocolates. The truth is that popular historical fiction for women became unfashionable, just as surely as men stopped reading tales of kings and explorers. In came chick-lit and laddish stories that eschewed any mention of our past collective history. Hibbert died on a cruise between Greece and Egypt, in her 80s. "Never regret," she once said. "If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience."
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...