Kathleen Lindsay

Last updated

Kathleen Lindsay
BornKathleen Mary Lindsay
1903
Aldershot, Hampshire, England
Died1973(1973-00-00) (aged 69–70)
Somerset West, Cape Province, South Africa
Pen name Pen names -
  • Mary Faulkner
  • Margaret Cameron
  • Mary Richmond
  • Moolly Waring
  • Betty Mavera
  • Elisabeth Fenton
  • Nigel McKenzie
  • Hugh Desmond
OccupationAuthor
NationalityBritish
EducationConvent of Sacre Coeur, Kakkatini Convent, Cairo
GenreHistorical Romantic fiction

Kathleen Mary Lindsay [1] (1903-1973), was an English writer of historical romance novels. For some years she held the record as the most prolific novelist in history. According to Guinness World Records (1986 edition, where they refer to her under pen name of "Mary Faulkner"), she wrote 904 books under eleven pen names. This record has since been surpassed.

Contents

Life

Kathleen Mary Lindsay was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. She was married at least three times, one of her husbands being Percy Edward Jeffryes. She wrote under all three married names as well as eight other pen names, using names of both sexes. These included Mary Faulkner, Margaret Cameron, Mary Richmond, Molly Waring, Betty Manvers, Elizabeth Fenton, Nigel Mackenzie and Hugh Desmond.

She seems to have lived in Western Australia at one stage. [2] In 1934 she moved to New Zealand. [3] However she later lived in Somerset West, Cape Province, South Africa, where she died.

Works

Her titles include There is No Yesterday and Wind of Desire.

In 1961, Lindsay was accused of plagiarism by the author Georgette Heyer, after a reader identified similarities between Lindsay's book Winsome Lass and Heyer's works. Heyer sent a summary of the similarities to Lindsay's publisher, Robert Lusty of Hurst & Blackett, prompting Lindsay to reply, "What does it all amount to? About four incidents and two lines." Lindsay's dismissive response inspired Heyer to provide a detailed eleven-page analysis of the alleged plagiarisms cross referenced against eight of her own novels to her solicitor, who recommended an injunction. The case never made it to court. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgette Heyer</span> English writer (1902–1974)

Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ailing younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical mystery</span> Literary subgenre

The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime. Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 20th century, many credit Ellis Peters's Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) for popularizing what would become known as the historical mystery. The increasing popularity and prevalence of this type of fiction in subsequent decades has spawned a distinct subgenre recognized by the publishing industry and libraries. Publishers Weekly noted in 2010 of the genre, "The past decade has seen an explosion in both quantity and quality. Never before have so many historical mysteries been published, by so many gifted writers, and covering such a wide range of times and places." Editor Keith Kahla concurs, "From a small group of writers with a very specialized audience, the historical mystery has become a critically acclaimed, award-winning genre with a toehold on the New York Times bestseller list."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Cartland</span> English writer and media personality (1901–2000)

Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily during the Victorian or Edwardian period. Cartland is one of the best-selling authors worldwide of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romance novel</span> Genre novel on the theme of romantic love

A romance novel or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primary focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the development of this genre include Samuel Richardson, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Brontë.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian literature</span> Literature by Australian writers

Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, its recognised literary tradition begins with and is linked to the broader tradition of English literature. However, the narrative art of Australian writers has, since 1788, introduced the character of a new continent into literature—exploring such themes as Aboriginality, mateship, egalitarianism, democracy, national identity, migration, Australia's unique location and geography, the complexities of urban living, and "the beauty and the terror" of life in the Australian bush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Joy Fowler</span> American writer

Karen Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Lee Settle</span> American writer

Mary Lee Settle was an American writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Cannan</span> English childrens writer and novelist (1896–1961)

Joanna Maxwell Cannan was an English writer of pony books and detective novels, the former aimed mainly at children. She belonged to a family of prolific writers.

<i>The Black Moth</i> 1921 romance novel by Georgette Heyer

The Black Moth (1921) is a Georgian era romance novel by the British author Georgette Heyer, set around 1751. The Black Moth was Heyer's debut novel, published when Heyer was nineteen. It was a commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Egan</span> Novelist, short story writer

Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short-story writer. Her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. From 2018 to 2020, she served as the president of PEN America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penny Jordan</span> English novelist (1946–2011)

Penelope Halsall was a prolific English writer of over 200 romance novels. She started writing regency romances as Caroline Courtney, and wrote contemporary romances as Penny Jordan and historical romances as Annie Groves. She also wrote novels as Melinda Wright and Lydia Hitchcock. Her books have sold over 70 million copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages.

<i>Lady of Quality</i> 1972 novel by Georgette Heyer

Lady of Quality is the final Regency romance written by Georgette Heyer. Published in the UK by The Bodley Head in 1972, and by E. P. Dutton in the U. S., it was the last of her novels to be published during her lifetime.

<i>My Lord John</i> 1975 historical novel by Georgette Heyer

My Lord John is an unfinished historical fiction novel by the British author Georgette Heyer, published posthumously in 1975 after her death the previous year. It traces the early lives of the "young lordings" – Harry, Thomas, John, and Humfrey – all sons of the future Lancastrian king Henry IV of England. They grow up amidst turbulent events including the 1394 pestilence, the exile of their father by Richard II, the death of their powerful grandfather John of Gaunt, and the seizure of the throne by their father. John of Lancaster serves as the novel's main character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yiyun Li</span> Chinese writer and professor

Yiyun Li is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Where Reasons End, and the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Book of Goose. Her short story collection Wednesday's Child was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is an editor of the Brooklyn-based literary magazine A Public Space.

Mary Willis Walker was an American crime fiction author.

The Silence of Dean Maitland is an 1886 novel by Maxwell Gray. Set in a fictionalized Isle of Wight, particularly around Calbourne, it concerns an ambitious clergyman who accidentally kills the father of a young woman he has made pregnant, then allows his best friend to be wrongly convicted for the crime. A popular bestseller, it was filmed in 1914, in 1915, and in 1934.

Jennifer Kloester is an Australian-born writer, particularly known for her work on Georgette Heyer.

Najwa Bin Shatwan is a Libyan academic and novelist, the first Libyan to ever be shortlisted for the International Prize of Arabic Fiction. She has authored four novels: Waber Al Ahssina ; Madmum Burtuqali ; Zareeb Al-Abeed ; and Roma Termini, in addition to several collections of short stories, plays and contributions to anthologies. She was chosen as one of the thirty-nine best Arab authors under the age of forty by Hay Festival’s Beirut 39 project (2009). In 2018, she was chosen from hundreds of Arab writers for the 2018 Banipal Writing Fellowship Residency at the University of Durham and in 2020, she was chosen to co-lead a series of creative writing workshops in Sharjah for Arab writers. Also, she was chosen as a member of jury in various literary awards/grants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maysie Coucher Greig</span> Australian novelist

Maysie Coucher Greig was an Australian writer of romantic novels and thrillers. In the 1930s, she wrote under the names Jennifer Ames, Ann Barclay and Mary Douglas Warren and she was considered the most prolific woman novelist of the time.

References

  1. "English in Africa" Oct 2004 Vol 31 # 2, "A bibliography of White Southern African women writers 1800-1940." by Valerie Letcher
  2. AustLit
  3. "ENGLISH AUTHORESS". Auckland Star. 3 February 1934. p. 12. Retrieved 23 February 2024 via Papers Past.
  4. Kloester, Jennifer (2012). Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller. London: William Heinemann, ISBN   978-0-434-02071-3, pp. 335–6