A literary plagiarism allegation from the 1950s is set to be given its first detailed airing in a new biography of much-loved novelist Georgette Heyer.
Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller by Jennifer Kloester (Wm Heinemann, hb, £20, October) reveals the outrage felt by the queen of witty regency romances at the obvious similarities between Barbara Cartland's historical novel Knave of Hearts and her own youthful story These Old Shades (published in 1926), when they were brought to her attention in 1950. (Page)
More details
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here.
I always wondered who the plagiarist was, but I never thought it was Cartland! Fascinating. That letter was quoted in the Hodge bio (pp. 84-5), but Cartland's name was redacted, presumably because she was still alive.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading some of her books I assumed that the plagiarist was Hebe Elsna. I read Knave of Hearts sometime in the seventies and quickly forgot it and so when I read Hodge's bio (parts of which I thought were catty)I didn't consider Cartland.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that Heyer could point to many current authors and say the same as she did about Cartland.
Heyer was one of the best and Cartland, in my opinion, was one of the worst. I think Heyer's writing will stand the test of time and I can't wait to read her bio!
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