Lucilla Andrews

"Diana Gordon" redirects here. For other uses, see Diana Gordon (disambiguation).
Lucilla Matthew Andrews Crichton
Born Lucilla Matthew Andrews
(1919-11-20)November 20, 1919
Suez, Egypt
Died November 6, 2006(2006-11-06) (aged 86)
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Pen name Lucilla Andrews,
Diana Gordon,
Joanna Marcus
Occupation Nurse, novelist
Language English
Nationality British
Period 1954–1996
Genre Romance
Spouse James Crichton (1947-1954)
Children Veronica Crichton

Lucilla Matthew Andrews Crichton (born 20 November 1919 in Suez, Egypt – d. 3 October 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland) was a British writer of 33 romance novels from 1954 to 1996,[1] she signed as Lucilla Andrews specialised in hospital romances, and under the pen names Diana Gordon and Joanna Marcus published her first mystery romances.

She was a founding member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, which honoured her shortly before her death with a lifetime achievement award.[2]

Biography

Born Lucilla Matthew Andrews on 20 November 1919 in Suez, Egypt, the third of four children of William Henry Andrews and Lucilla Quero-Bejar. They met in Gibraltar, and married in 1913. Her mother was daughter of a Spanish doctor and descended from the Spanish nobility. Her British father workerd by the Eastern Telegraph Company (later Cable and Wireless) on African and Mediterranean stations until 1932. At the age of three, she was sent to join her older sister at boarding school in Sussex.[2]

She joined the British Red Cross in 1940 and later trained as a nurse at St Thomas' Hospital, London, during World War II. In 1947, she retired and married Dr James Crichton, and she discovered, that he was addicted to drugs. In 1949, soon after their daughter Veronica was born, he was committed to hospital and she returned to nursing and writing. In 1952, she sold her first romance novel, published in 1954, the same year that her husband died.[2] She specialised in Doctor-Nurse romances, using her personal experience as inspiration.

In 1969, she decided to move to Edinburgh. Her daughter read History at Newnham College, Cambridge, and became a journalist and Labour Party communications adviser, before her death from cancer in 2002.[2]

She died on 3 October 2006 in Edinburgh.

Plagiarism

In late 2006, Lucilla Andrews' autobiography No Time for Romance became the focus of a posthumous controversy. It has been alleged that the novelist Ian McEwan plagiarised from this work while writing his novel, Atonement. McEwan has protested his innocence.[3][4][5]

Quotes

Bibliography

As Lucilla Andrews

Single novels

Endel & Lofthouse Trilogy

  1. A Few Days in Endel (1967) aka Endel House (originally as Diana Gordon)
  2. Marsh Blood (1980) (originally as Joanna Marcus)
  3. The Sinister Side (1996)

Jason Trilogy

  1. One Night in London (1979)
  2. Weekend in the Garden (1981)
  3. In an Edinburgh Drawing Room (1983)

Serialised novels

Omnibus

References

  1. ↑ BBC – Radio 4 – Last Word
  2. 1 2 3 4 Langdon, Julia (17 October 2006). "Lucilla Andrews". Guardian Online Obituaries. London. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  3. ↑ "An inspiration, yes. Did I copy from another author? No". Guardian Online. London. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
  4. ↑ Hoyle, Ben (27 November 2006). "McEwan hits back at call for atonement". The Times. UK. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
  5. ↑ "McEwan accused of copying writers memoirs". PR inside. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
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