Maureen Stephenson | |
|---|---|
 Maureen Stephenson in 1983 | |
| Born | Maureen Duffy 14 February 1927 Manchester, England |
| Died | 5 July 2008 (aged 81) Ansley, Warwickshire, England |
| Known for | Author |
| Spouses | Louis John Stephenson (m. 1954;died 2011) |
| Children | 3 |
Maureen Stephenson (14 February 1927 - 5 July 2008) was an author of romantic, gothic and contemporary mysteries. [1]
Stephenson was born to father Joseph Duffy, a tailor, and mother Anne, née Byrom. She attended high school in London. She married Louis John Stephenson, an engineer and later Warwickshire County councillor, [2] in 1954. They had three children. She lived at Ansley Mill Farm, Ansley, [2] from 1978 until her death. The mill is thought to be the inspiration for George Eliot's 1860 novel The Mill on the Floss . [2]
She worked as a production secretary and in film continuity at several major studios, notably Shepperton Studios from 1944-1947, Pinewood Studios from 1948-1950, Denham Studios from 1950-1952 and Ealing Studios from 1952–1954. Of this work, she said "I found working on film scripts invaluable in learning how to build up a story and a character." [3]
Films on which she worked included:
Stephenson started writing when her father paid for her to take a correspondence course in fiction writing, about which she said, "In my opinion, such courses are the best way to start." [4] While on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales in 1977 she started writing romantic mysteries. She was influenced by the Brontë sisters, stating that "They achieve a mystical otherworldliness that I admire." [3] The majority of her books were published through Robert Hale. [5]
Unbeknownst to Stephenson – Wath Moor US publication rights were unlawfully "sold" to an American named Elliot as part of a tax evasion scheme in which expenses and purported losses associated with publication were to be used to reduce the buyer's liability for income tax. The plan did not succeed. [6]
She published a small run of A Brief History of Ansley around 2000. [9] She was a featured author as part of the second World Book Day in 1999. [10]
