Patricia Robins (1 February 1921 – 4 December 2016) was a British writer of short stories and over 80 novels mainly romances from 1934 to 2016, she also signed under the pseudonym Claire Lorrimer, she had sold more than ten million copies. She served as

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

tracking Nazi bombers. Robins came from an artistic family. Her mother was the popular romance writer

Denise Robins Denise Robins (née Denise Naomi Klein; 1 February 1897 – 1 May 1985) was a prolific English romantic novelist and the first President of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1960–1966). She wrote under her first married name and under the ...

, who sold more than one hundred million copies and was the first president of the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body that represents authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stuart ...

(1960–1966). Her maternal grandmother was the writer K. C. Groom and her maternal grandfather was

Herman Klein Herman Klein (born Hermann Klein; 23 July 1856 – 10 March 1934) was an English music critic, author and teacher of singing. Klein's famous brothers included Charles and Manuel Klein. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Clarice Louise Co ...

, a musician. Her maternal uncle was

Adrian Cornwell-Clyne Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

, who wrote books on photography and cinematography, another uncle was an artist, as is her daughter.

Biography

Patricia Denise Robins was born on 1 February 1921 in

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, Sussex, England, the second daughter of

Arthur Robins Arthur Robins (1888 – 12 March 1924) was an English footballer who played as an Outside right for Sheffield United in the Football League. Career Born in Northampton Robins begun his career at Raunds St Peters before transferring to The Bl ...

, a corn broker on the Baltic Exchange and

, a prolific author, who sold more than one hundred million copies, and the first president of the

(1960–1966). She had two sisters, Eve Louise and Anne Eleanor. She was educated at Parents' National Educational Union at

Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...

, Sussex, and also in Switzerland and Germany. Her mother encouraged her to write, and at 12 she published her first children's novella in 1934. She worked as junior editor in a woman's magazine editorial and published short stories. Thanks to her knowledge of German, she served as

officer during

. She tracking Nazi bombers with the fledgling British radar system in a top-secret RAF filter room. Not until 2013 did she receive recognition, due to the confidential nature of her work. During the war she also went on to write contemporary romance novels like her mother, she also published some children's stories. In 1947, she married former RAF pilot Donald Clark, they had three children, Ian, Nicky and Graeme. Because her husband's job, the family lived in many countries, including

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. After their divorce, she started a relation with Mel Hack and moved to 400-year-old former barn in rural Kent. In the 1967 she started to use the pseudonym Claire Lorrimer to write Gothic romances, and later

family saga The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often ...

s. Some of her early novels were reedited under different titles and as Clare Lorrimer. In her late years, she devoted more time to her eight grandchildren, Emily, Jemma, Polly, Charlotte, Thomas, Arthur, Max and Tilly, but she continued writing until her death.
Author's Website In 2007, she published her autobiography ''You Never Know'' as Claire Lorrimer. In March 2016, she was given the Outstanding Achievement Award at the

. She died on 4 December 2016 in

Bibliography

Some of her novels have been reedited under different titles or as Clare Lorrimer.Patricia Robins
at fantasticfiction.co.uk

As Patricia Robins

Children's Books

=Single titles

= *''The Adventures of the Three Baby Bunnies'' (1934) *''The Heart of a Rose'' (1947) *''The One Hundred Pound Reward'' (1966)

=Peter and Angela Series

= #''Tree Fairies'' (1945) #''Sea Magic'' (1946)

Romance Novels

=Single titles

= *''To the Stars'' (1944) *''See No Evil'' (1945) *''Awake My Heart'' (1950) *''Beneath the Moon'' (1951) aka ''The Legend'' *''Leave My Heart Alone'' (1951) aka ''An Open Door'' *''The Fair Deal'' (1952) *''So This Is Love'' (1953) *''Heaven in Our Hearts'' (1954) *''One Who Cares'' (1954) *''Love Cannot Die'' (1955) aka ''Never Say Goodbye'' *''The Foolish Heart'' (1956) *''Give All to Love'' (1956) aka ''For Always'' *''Where Duty Lies'' (1957) *''He Is Mine'' (1957) aka ''The Faithful Heart'' *''Love Must Wait'' (1958) *''Lonely Quest'' (1959) aka ''The Search for Love'' *''Lady Chatterley's Daughter'' (1961) aka ''Connie's Daughter'' *''The Last Chance'' (1961) *''Seven Loves'' (1962) aka ''Fulfilment'' *''The Long Wait'' (1962) *''The Runaways'' (1962) *''With All My Love'' (1963) *''The Constant Heart'' (1964) *''Any Time at All'' (1964) *''The Night Is Thine'' (1964) *''Second Love'' (1964) aka ''Second Chance'' *''No More Loving'' (1965) *''Topaz Island'' (1965) *''There Is But One'' (1965) *''The Uncertain Joy'' (1966) *''Love Me Tomorrow'' (1966) *''The Man Behind the Mask'' (1967) aka ''Forever'' *''Sapphire in the sand'' (1967) *''Forbidden'' (1967) *''Return to Love'' (1968) *''No Stone Unturned'' (1969) *''Laugh on Friday'' (1969) *''Under the Sky'' (1970) aka ''Beneath the Sun'' *''Cinnabar House'' (1970) *''The Crimson Tapestry'' (1971) aka ''The Woven Thread'' *''Play Fair with Love'' (1972) *''None But He'' (1973) *''Forsaken'' (re-edition)

=Bainbury Saga

= #''Three Loves'' (1949) aka ''The Reunion'' #''Heart's Desire'' (1953) aka ''The Reckoning''

As Claire Lorrimer

Single novels

=Gothic Romance

= *''A Voice in the Dark'' (1967) *''The Shadow Falls'' (1974) *''The Secret of Quarry House'' (1976) *''Relentless Storm'' (1979)

Women of Fire Saga

#''Mavreen'' (1976) aka ''Scarlett'' #''Tamarisk'' (1978) aka ''Antoinette'' #''Chantal'' (1980)

Rochford Trilogy

#''The Chatelaine'' (1978) #''The Wilderling'' (1982) #''Fool's Curtain'' (1994)

=Short story

= *''The Garden'' (1980)

=Historical Novels

= *''Last Year's Nightingale'' (1984) *''Frost in the Sun'' (1986) *''The Spinning Wheel'' (1991) *''The Silver Link'' (1993) *''Deception'' (2003) *''Troubled Waters'' (2004) *''Truth to Tell'' (2007) *''Obsession'' (2013) *''Georgia'' (2013) *''Live the Dream'' (2016)

Ortolans

:''Ortolans'' (1990) #''Eleanor'' (1994) #''Sophia'' (1994) #''Emma'' (1994)

=Mavreen (Audio)

= #''The Full Moon'' (1995) #''Harvest Moon'' (1995) #''The New Moon'' (1995)

=Tamarisk (Audio)

= #''The Fledgling'' (1996) #''The Skylark'' (1996)

=Murder Mysteries

= *''Over My Dead Body'' (2003) *''Dead Centre'' (2005) *''Infatuation'' (2007) *''Dead Reckoning'' (2009) *''Trust Me'' (2015)

Collections

*''Variations: The Snake Belt / One in Three / The WhiteDoves / The Angel and the Witch or Miss Tansley's Easter Play / Trust Me / Once a Year / Goat's Loose / The Patient in Number Twenty-Two / Comfortand Joy / Two Sides to a Coin / Old Toys Wanted / A True Story / PoorLittle Rich Girl / Progress / The Garden'' (1991) *''Emotions'' (2008)

Non fiction

*''House of Tomorrow'' (Biography) (1987) *''You Never Know'' (Autobiography) (2007)

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robins, Patricia 1921 births 2016 deaths English people of Latvian-Jewish descent 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English women novelists English romantic fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers