 Eleanor Hibbert, who most commonly wrote under the names Jean Plaidy, Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr, was a prolific British author.
She was born on September 1, 1906 and began reading at a young age. In her early twenties she married George Percival Hibbert, a leather merchant about 20 years her senior, who shared her love of reading.
During the 1930s Eleanor completed nine novels which focused on the psychological aspects of contemporary life, but these were never accepted for publication. Undeterred Eleanor tried her hand at writing short stories for newspapers like the Daily Mail and the Evening News and was eventually steered in a different direction by a literary editor of the Daily Mail, who said, “You’re barking up the wrong tree: you must write something which is saleable, and the easiest way is to write romantic fiction.”
In 1941 she published her first novel, Daughter of Anna, under the name Eleanor Burford (her maiden name), and 20 years later had published a total of 32 novels under this name.
She also wrote historical novels about the crowned heads of Europe that were hailed by critics for their historical accuracy and attention to detail. She wrote her historical novels under the name Jean Plaidy.
During the 1950s she also wrote several novels under the names Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate.
In 1960 Victoria Holt was created as Eleanor released her first Gothic romance novel, while another novel was produced this year under the name Anne Percival.
Her final pseudonym, Philippa Carr, was created in 1972.
Eleanor Hibbert died in 1993 on a cruise ship and was buried at sea. By the time of her death she had sold over 100 million books. [edit]
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