Mary Josephine Beverley (née Dunn; 22 September 1947 – 23 May 2016) was a prolific English-Canadian writer of historical and contemporary

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pr ...

s from 1988 to 2016. Her works are regarded as well researched, filled with historical details, and peopled by communities of interlinked characters, stretching the boundaries of the historical romantic fiction genre. They have been translated into several languages, and she has received multiple awards.

Biography

Early life and education

Mary Josephine Dunn was born 22 September 1947 in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England. She was of Irish descent. At age 11, she went to an all-girls boarding school, Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool. At 16, she wrote her first romance, with a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

setting, completed in instalments in an exercise book. She read history and American studies at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

in Staffordshire from 1966 to 1970, where she earned a degree in English history. The broad-based learning of Keele's foundation year and the availability of archived Regency-period newspapers were useful resources to enable her to develop her fiction writing. On 24 June 1971, she married Ken Beverley, whom she met at Keele.

Career

After graduation, she quickly attained a position as a youth employment officer. She stayed in this profession until 1976, working first in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and then in

West Bridgford West Bridgford is a town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Rushcliffe in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately south of the city of Nottingham, from which the River Trent divides it. Forming part of the Not ...

, Nottinghamshire. In 1976, Beverley moved to Canada, where her scientist husband was invited to do post-doctoral research at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When her professional qualifications proved unusable in the Canadian labour market, Beverley decided to develop her early interest in creative writing. Many of her "Rogue" characters were created in an initial manuscript entitled ''A Regency Rape''. At this point, Beverley did not have a fixed idea of the narrower literary boundaries drawn by the traditional Regency romantic novel and thus created a literary hybrid. A precursor of the Regency historical novel, the work had a more varied cast of characters which, while respectful of the world of

Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) 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 for her younger brother ...

, broadened the scope and intensity of the genre. At this time Beverley was still unpublished, but devoted her time to caring for her two young sons and participating in the woman-centred childbirth movement, which made her especially careful to portray births in her novels realistically but positively. The turning point in Beverley's writing career came when her move to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

led to her attendance at a talk on "The state of romance in fiction" by Janet Adams, at Beaconsfield Library on 23 May 1984. The executive advisor of the Writers' Association for Romance and Mainstream demystified the creative process for the budding author and was sufficiently impressed by Beverley's writing to act as her agent. That same year, the family moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where Beverley became a founding member of the Ottawa Romance Writers' Association (ORWA). Formed in 1985, ORWA became her "nurturing community" for the next 12 years. In 1988, Beverley, who was actively writing science fiction as well as romance, was a finalist in the

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...

Writers of the Future Contest. That same year, she sold her first romance novel. With her ensuing success in the latter genre, she allowed speculative writing to slide, though elements of it appear periodically in some of her romances and novellas. Beverly wrote at multiple blogs: * ''Jo Talk'', a solo blog where "she post danything that interest dher" * ''Minepast'', a solo blog where "she share interesting tid-bits of history she discover das she researche her novels" * the ''UK Historical Romance blog'' * ''Word Wenches'', a group blog comprising posts by eight women "historical authors who blog about history, writing, and anything vaguely related"

Personal life

Soon after university, Beverley and her husband Ken moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Beverley became a Canadian with dual citizenship, and she and Ken raised their two sons there, then moved to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

. More recently, she and Ken moved back to England, and they lived in Dawlish, Devon, though they were considering returning to Victoria permanently.

Later life and death

In 2012, Beverley survived a bout with cancer and was in remission for four years. However, the cancer returned and moved very quickly; she succumbed to it on 23 May 2016. She died in a care home in Yorkshire, England.

Recognition

Her works have been translated into many languages and have won her many awards, including five RITAs, two Career Achievement Awards from ''

Romantic Times ''Romantic Times'' was an American genre magazine specializing in romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love betwee ...

'', The Golden Leaf Award, and the Readers' Choice Award. A member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Honor Roll, Beverley is the sole Canadian romance author inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

Traditional Regencies

* ''Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed'' (1990) () * ''The Stanfourth Secrets'' (1989) () * ''The Stolen Bride'' (1990) () * ''Emily and the Dark Angel'' (1992) () * ''If Fancy Be the Food of Love'' (1991) () (see Novellas below) * ''The Fortune Hunter'' (1992) () * ''Deirdre and Don Juan'' (1993) ()

Company of Rogues Series

* ''An Arranged Marriage'' (1991) () Nicholas and Eleanor * ''An Unwilling Bride'' (1992) () Lucien and Beth * ''Christmas Angel'' (1992) () Leander and Judith * ''Forbidden'' (1994) () Francis and Serena * ''Dangerous Joy'' (1995) () Miles and Felicity * ''Dragon's Bride'' (2001) () Con and Susan (A Three Georges Story) * ''The Devil's Heiress'' (2001) () Hawk and Clarissa (A Three Georges Story) * ''The Demon's Mistress'' (2001) () Van and Maria (A Three Georges Story) * ''Hazard'' (2002) () Race and Anne * ''St. Raven'' (2003) () Tris and Cressida * ''Skylark'' (2004) () Stephen and Laura * ''The Rogue's Return'' (2006) () Simon and Jancy * ''To Rescue a Rogue'' (2006) () Dare and Mara * ''Lady Beware'' (2007) () Darien and Thea * ''A Shocking Delight'' (2014) () David and Lucy * ''The Viscount Needs a Wife'' (2016) () Dauntry and Kitty * ''Merely a Marriage'' (2017) () Norris and Ariana

Medieval Romances

* ''Lord of My Heart'' (1992) () * ''Dark Champion'' (1993) () * ''The Shattered Rose'' (1996) () * ''Lord of Midnight'' (1998) () * ''Day of Wrath'' (see Novellas below) * ''The Wise Virgin'' () (see Novellas below)

The Malloren Series

* ''My Lady Notorious'' (1993) () Chastity and Cyn * ''Tempting Fortune'' (1995) () Portia and Bryght * ''Something Wicked'' (1997) () Elf and Fort * ''Secrets of the Night'' (1999) () Rosamunde and Brand * ''Devilish'' (2000) () Diana and Rothgar * ''Winter Fire'' (2003) () Genova and Ashart * ''A Most Unsuitable Man'' (2005) () * ''A Lady's Secret'' (2008) () Petra and Robin * ''The Secret Wedding'' (2009) () * ''The Secret Duke'' (2010) () Bella and Thorn * ''An Unlikely Countess'' (2011) () * ''A Scandalous Countess'' (2012) ()

The Georges Series

(related to the Company of Rogues) * ''Demon's Mistress'' (2001) () * ''Dragon's Bride'' (2001) () * ''Devil's Heiress'' (2001) ()

Novellas and short stories

* * ** * * * * * * * * Reissue 2006. * * * * MM 2006 * * *

Single Novels

* ''Forbidden Magic'' (1995) ()

References

External links

Jo Beverley's Official Website at jobev.com