System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Barbara Cartland
1901 - 2000
Romance novelist Barbara Cartland died May 21, 2000. She was 98.
Cartland was born July 9, 1901 in Edgbaston, England. A prolific author, Cartland's total book output was 723 romantic novels with over 1 billion copies sold worldwide over a period of 75 years.
Cartland moved to London as a teenager after her father died during World War I. Her career as a writer began as a contributing editor to the Daily Express. While writing for the newspaper, she honed her skills as an author, turning out her first book, Jigsaw, in 1925. It was reported that she could finish a book in as little time as a week.
Her novels were usually set in 19th century France. A firm believer that sexual details were better imagined that written, she never wrote about such exploits in her novels. Her books extolled the virtues of femininity and the power of manly ideals without the lusty language that characterizes many books of her genre.
Cartland was the step-mother of the late Princess Diana. She married wealthy Scot Alexander McCorquodale in 1927. They had a daughter, Raine. The two were divorced in 1933.
Her second marriage was to her first husband's cousin, Hugh McCorquodale. They had two sons, Ian and Glen. They were married until McCorquodale's death in 1963.
Cartland was once asked where she got her inspirations for her books. "I say a prayer. I really do. I say, 'Please God, get me a plot.' It's absolutely extraordinary. Then a plot comes."
She averaged about 23 books a year. Her work has been translated into 36 languages. In addition to her romance novels, Cartland has also written books on her life and works on health food, vitamins and beauty.
Cartland also adapted her books to movies and plays, writing the screenplays and scripts.
She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1991.
Cartland died of old age two months short of her 99th birthday in Hatfield, England on May 21, 2000.
