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Eleanor Burford Hibbert, recognized to readers as Victoria Holt was born on (1st September 1906 – 19th January 1993) in Kensington, London, England. She was one of the most excellent English authors who united imagination through facts to bring the past alive throughout novels of fiction as well as romance for most of the twentieth century. The fact of the matter is that Victoria Holt was one of the world’s most adored as well as enduring authors. In her early twenties, she married George Percival Hibber wholesale leather merchant who was about 20-years older than herself and she was the 2nd wife. Both shared the love of reading the books. It is evident that Victoria Holt published quite a lot of books a year in different fictional genres and was a creative writer. She used eight pen names during her career and many of her book lovers never suspected her other identities. Victoria inherited the love of reading and writing from her father, Joseph Burford, who was a dock laborer. Alice Louise Burford was her mother. When Victoria Holt was young, her health strained her to be confidentially educated at home. Ideally, she went to a business college when she was at the age of 16 where she studied Shorthand typewriting along with languages. The knowledge she acquired enabled her to work in Hatton Garden as a jeweler where she evaluated gems and typed. Additionally, she worked as a verbal communication interpreter in a café for German as well as French speaking tourists.
In 1941, she began singing her novels with her maiden name Eleaner Burford and later she created her first and the most prolific fictitious name Jean Plaidy. In the 1950’s she used the pseudonyms; Kathleen Kellow, Allalice Tate, and Elbur Ford. In 1960, she created the pseudonyms the popular Victoria Holt and Anna Percival. She fashioned her last pseudonyms Philippa Carr in 1972. Between 1974 and 1978 Victoria Holt bought a 13th-century mansion house in Sandwich, Kent that she named King’s Lodging since she knew that it had served formerly as lodging for English monarchs Elizabeth I and Henry VIII. Most importantly, the residence had carved fireplaces and a stairway from the Tudor era. Victoria Holt reinstated the house as well as furnished it magnificently but almost immediately found it too huge for her taste as well as too distant from London. She immediately moved to a two-storey penthouse residence at Albert Court, Kensington Gore, London that overlooked the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park. Mrs. Molly Pascoe was Victoria’s companion and traveled together as well as shared the same apartment. In 1985, Victoria Holt sold King’s Lodging. She used to sail around the globe on board a cruise ship three months a year from January to April. The most exotic destinations she liked most are Egypt and Australia. In 1970 she traveled by water to Sydney and in 1978 she sailed to Canberra. Her vision started failing on the way to the end of her life. She died on (19 January 1993) on the tour ship Sea Princess somewhere Athens and was masked at sea. On 6th March 1993, a commemorative service was afterward held at St Peter Anglican cathedral, Kensington Park Road, London.
Victoria Holt constantly used the pseudonym for her chronological novels about the crowned heads of Europe. The books printed under this pen name were accepted by the community and were also hailed by opponents along with historians for their chronological precision, the superiority of writing and concentration to detail. Some of the novels include;
(i) Secret for a Nightingale (September-1986)
The book narrates the story of a young girl in India, beautiful, high-spirited by the name Susanna Pleydell.
(ii) The Silk Vendetta (September-1987)
The book illustrates amidst the lush romance of Victorian London, Florence, and Paris whereby a deadly family rivalry is born.
(iii) The home of a Thousand Lanterns (1974)
The house she had dreamed of since childhood. The book illustrates the home where her most horrible nightmares were about to come true. The story narrates how Jane Lindsay by no means dreamed she would be rich or that she would be in love with a man she could not trust.
Her writing career started when she first discovered her interest in the past and during her teenage years, she visited Hampton Court. She realized her aspiration to write after her marriage since she achieved the monetary independence she needed. The historic monuments of London and royal qualities filled Victoria Holt’s historical novels. Later she was influenced by her usual visits to British notable homes as well as their architecture. Victoria wrote nine long novels during her 1930s whereby each about 150,000 words in length and all of them serious enhanced emotional studies of modern-day life. At the same time, she wrote the short stories purposely for the newspaper such as Evening News and Daily Mail. Victoria Holt read more than 50 romance novels basically as research.
Victoria Holt enjoyed a good physical shape, lifelong affiliation with her mythical agents and publishers. Victoria Holt had sold 75 million books by the time of her death in 1993 that was interpreted in 20 languages under the name Victoria Holt and 14 million under the pen name Jean Plaidy as well as 3 million under the pen name Philippa Carr. Mark Hamilton of the A.M. Heath Literary Agency took over after her death as executor of her literary estate, anticipated to be valued about $ 8,790,807.
In conclusion, Victoria Holt was a creative writer, churning out many books in annually under different names. She attributed her large production to her usual working habits. Ideally, she expressed herself as an obsessive author and would write down the entire seven days in a week. She dedicated five hours each day to her writing which took her to conduct research as well as proof-read her draft. In addition, she also spends time at Kensington Central Library. The fact of the matter is that Victoria Holt maintained her discipline even while on her yearly cruise all over the world. However, essentially, each of Victoria’s Jean Plaidy books attributed a bibliography at the end, listing the chronological works consulted all through the course of lettering the book. From the readers’ point of view, most of Victoria Holt’s books are well structured and entertaining given the fact that they have a flow.
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3 Responses to “Victoria Holt”
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I read a Victoria Holt novel in the 1970’s that had to do with Nazi Germany and involved a convent. I would like to re-read it but I can’t remember the title. Would you be able to supply me with the title? Thank you!
I reluctantly read a book suggested by the librarian at my high school for a book report that I had to do for my English class in 1987. That book was Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt. I LOVED it and got an ‘A’ on my book report. I, now, collect her books under all pen names of hers I can possibly find. She was a lifted writer.
I started reading Ms. Holt’s books in the 1970’s, borrowing them from the library in Taos, New Mexico. Beyond the Blue Mountains, which of course is Jean Plaidy, was the first book I read. It was paperback and contained the a list of her pen names and their books, and the name Victoria Holt really stuck with me. I read every book I found under her pen names I could find in the Taos Library, then when we moved to Elko, Nevada in the mid-80’s, I looked for more there. I especially loved the Plantagenet Saga. To this day, I am still a great fan of hers (we share the same birth day of September 1), and am astounded at how different the writing styles of each pseudonym are. She truly was a magnificent writer.