Dilly Court (born 1940) is an English author of popular

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

and

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 ...

novels also writing under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Lily Baxter. She published her first book when she was 65 and, , her novels have sold more than four million copies.

Early life

Court grew up in north east

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, leaving school when she was 16 to work as a secretary at broadcaster

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

. Working in the advertising department, she was able to move into a

copywriting Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

position, which allowed her to exercise her love of writing.

Literary career

Court did not begin writing novels until 1997, and it took until 2005 and a string of rejections before one was accepted for publication: ''Mermaids Singing''. As of 2020 she has published more than 30 novels, and had multiple titles on ''The Sunday Times'' Bestseller List including ''The Button Box'', which reached #2 in 2017. In 2023, her novel ''Dolly's Dream'' reached #2 on ''

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest ...

''s Official Top 50 UK chart and #1 on their Mass Market Fiction chart. Despite her impressive sales, her books have largely been ignored by critics. In 2020, Robbie Millen, literary editor for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', admitted that he hadn't previously heard of Court and that his paper had never reviewed any of her titles, nor had other major British newspapers.

Personal life

Court has been married twice (in 1967, to a sea captain, and in 1995, to a dentist) and has two children. she resides in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

Selected works

Standalone novels

* ''Mermaids Singing'' (December 2005) * ''Tilly True'' (November 2006) * ''The Best of Sisters'' (January 2007) * ''A Mother's Courage'' (March 2008) * ''The Constant Heart'' (July 2008) * ''A Mother's Promise'' (January 2009) * ''The Cockney Angel'' (August 2009) * ''A Mother's Wish'' (January 2010) * ''The Ragged Heiress'' (September 2010) * ''A Mother's Secret'' (November 2010) * ''The Cockney Sparrow'' (April 2011) * ''The Dollmaker's Daughters'' (April 2011) * ''Cinderella Sister'' (June 2011) * ''A Mother's Trust'' (November 2011) * ''The Lady's Maid'' (June 2012) * ''The Best of Daughters'' (November 2012) * ''The Workhouse Girl'' (June 2013) * ''The Beggar Maid'' (September 2014) * ''A Place Called Home'' (November 2014) * ''The Orphan's Dream'' (September 2015) * ''Ragged Rose'' (February 2016) * ''The Swan Maid'' (June 2016) * ''The Christmas Card'' (November 2016) * ''The Button Box'' (June 2017) * ''The Mistletoe Seller'' (November 2017) * ''A Loving Family'' (June 2019) * ''Nettie's Secret'' (August 2019) * ''Rag-and-Bone Christmas'' (October 2020) * ''The Reluctant Heiress'' (May 2021)

Series

The River Maid series

* ''The River Maid'' (January 2018) * ''The Summer Maiden'' (June 2018) * ''The Christmas Rose'' (November 2018)

The Village Secrets series

* ''The Christmas Wedding'' (October 2019) * ''The Country Bride'' (June 2020) * ''A Village Scandal'' (March 2020)

The Rockwood Chronicles

* ''Fortune's Daughter'' (October 2021) * ''Winter Wedding'' (January 2022) * ''Runaway Widow'' (May 2022) * ''Sunday's Child'' (August 2022) * ''Snow Bride'' (October 2022) * ''Dolly's Dream'' (February 2023)

As Lily Baxter

* ''Poppy's War'' (July 2010) * ''We'll Meet Again'' (January 2011) * ''Spitfire Girl'' (July 2011) * ''The Girls in Blue'' (July 2012) * ''The Shopkeeper's Daughter'' (July 2013) * ''In Love and War'' (July 2014)

References

External links

*
Dilly Court
at Fiction DB
Dilly Court
at HarperCollins {{DEFAULTSORT:Court, Dilly 1940 births Living people English historical novelists Women historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age English women novelists 21st-century English novelists 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Writers from London