Whether you know her as Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, Jean Plaidy, or one of her various other pseudonyms, chances are you have read or seen one of Eleanor Hibbert's novels. Eleanor Alice Burford was born to a dock laborer in London in 1906, and died on a cruise ship in 1993 and was buried at sea. By the time of her death, she had published over 100 novels and had sold more than 100 million books.
According to Wikipedia:
"She published her first novel in 1941 under the name of Eleanor Burford, her maiden name, which she used for her contemporary novels. By 1961 she had published 32 novels under this name.
She chose the pseudonym Jean Plaidy for her historical novels about the crowned heads of Europe. Her books written under this pseudonym were popular with the general public and were also hailed by critics and historians for their historical accuracy, quality of writing, and attention to detail.
Her Borgia trilogy was among the first to show Lucrezia not as an amoral poisoner but as an innocent pawn and victim of her family's political machinations, an interpretation more in accordance with the historical record than the traditional one.
From 1950 to 1953 she wrote four novels as Elbur Ford; from 1952 to 1960 she used the pseudonym Kathleen Kellow for eight novels; and from 1956 to 1961 she wrote five novels as Ellalice Tate.
In 1960 she wrote her first Gothic romance under the name Victoria Holt, and also wrote one novel under the name Anne Percival.
She created her last pseudonym, Philippa Carr, in 1972."
There is a great website created by a fan that has information about all her novels here: http://jeanplaidy.tripod.com/id19.htm.
As Jean Plaidy she published several well-regarded (for their accuracy and writing) historical novels, including series about the Normans, Plantagenets, Tudors, Mary Stuart, Queens of England and many more.
Most of my reading experience with Eleanor Hibbert has been her Victoria Holt novels - I loved the deliciously creepy, spooky romantic suspense. She was a master at transporting the reader to another time and place, creating atmospheres that gave me the chills but kept me reading for the mystery and romance.
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