Evelyn Anthony
Born | Evelyn Bridget Patricia Stephens July 3, 1926 London, England, UK |
---|---|
Died | September 25, 2018 England, UK | (aged 92)
Pen name | Evelyn Anthony |
Occupation | Novelist |
Nationality | British |
Spouse | Michael Ward-Thomas (1955-2004) |
Evelyn Bridgett Patricia Ward-Thomas, née Stephens (3 July 1926 – 25 September 2018),[1][2][3] better known by the pen name Evelyn Anthony, was a British writer. Anthony was born in the Lambeth district of London.
She had a very prolific writing career, translated into at least 19 languages and her 1971 The Tamarind Seed was adapted for a film in 1974, starring Julie Andrews as Judith Farrow.
Early life and education[]
She was born Evelyn Bridget Patricia Stephens to Henry and Elizabeth (née Sharkey).[1] Her father had a fortune which came from the indelible ink invented by his grandfather Dr. Henry Stephens.[1] She was a keen reader as a child and attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart school in Roehampton.[1] She was evacuated to the West Country during World War II.[4]
Her parents‘ marriage was not happy and by the time she was 12 they had divorced.[1] She was close to her father and when his health deteriorated within two years of the divorce she cared for him at home.[1]
Personal life[]
She met Michael Ward-Thomas on a double date in The Dorchester and both were attracted to each other.[1] He worked for the Consolidated African Selection Trust.[1] They switched partners and were married a few months later.[1]
They bought Horham Hall in 1968 but found that it was costly and sold it in 1976 and moved to Naas, County Kildare where she had relatives.[1] Increased income from her writing allowed her to buy Horham Hall back in 1982.[1]
In 1994 she became the first female High Sheriff of Essex.[1][4]
In 1995 her daughter Kitty died of a heroin overdose, leading Evelyn to not write for another seven years.[1]
In 2004 her husband died of a stroke.[1]
She died at 92, on 25 September 2018, she was survived by her children Susan, Anthony, Ewan, Christian and Luke as well as 16 grandchildren.[1]
Writing[]
Her pen name is derived from the name of St. Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost things.[1]
Her writing career began with short stories that she submitted to women's magazines after the second world war.[1][4]
Anthony's first historical novel, Rebel Princess (1953), focused on Catherine the Great. Other Anthony historical novels depicted Anne Boleyn (Anne Boleyn 1957) and Queen Victoria (Victoria and Albert 1958).[1] Her historical novels Far Fly The Eagles and Valentina were both set during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The later novels had a theme of espionage.[5][6]
Her 1971 The Tamarind Seed was adapted for a film in 1974, starring Julie Andrews as Judith Farrow, a British Home Office functionary and Omar Sharif as Feodor, a Soviet air attaché-lovers involved in Cold War intrigue.[7]
Her books were translated into at least nineteen languages.[4]
Partial bibliography[]
The following bibliography includes both historical novels and thrillers.
- 1953 : Rebel Princess (later reissued as Imperial Highness)
- 1954 : Curse Not the King (Museum Press)
- 1955 : Far Fly The Eagles (Museum Press)
- 1957 : Anne Boleyn
- 1958 : Victoria and Albert (Museum Press)
- 1960 : Elizabeth
- 1960 : All the Queen's Men
- 1961 : Charles the King (Museum Press) (Doubleday)
- 1963 : Clandara (Hurst & Blackett)
- 1964 : The French Bride
- 1964 : The Heiress (Hurst & Blackett)
- 1966 : Valentina (Hurst & Blackett)
- 1967 : The Rendezvous
- 1968 : Anne of Austria (Hurst & Blackett)
- 1969 :
- 1970 : The Assassin (Hutchinson)
- 1971 : The Tamarind Seed (Hutchinson)
- 1972 : The Poellenberg Inheritance (Hutchinson)
- 1973 : The Occupying Power aka Stranger at the Gates (Hutchinson)
- 1974 : The Malaspiga Exit also called Mission to Malaspiga (Hutchinson)
- 1975 : The Persian Ransom (Hutchinson)
- 1977 : The Silver Falcon (Hutchinson)
- 1978 : The Return (Hutchinson)
- 1979 : The Grave of Truth (Hutchinson)
- 1980 : The Defector (Hutchinson)
- 1981 : The Avenue of the Dead (Hutchinson) (Cowrad McCann)
- 1982 : Albatross (Hutchinson)
- 1983 : The Company of Saints (Hutchinson)
- 1985 : Voices on the Wind (Hutchinson)
- 1987 : No Enemy But Time (Hutchinson)
- 1988 : The House of Vandekar (Hutchinson)
- 1989 : The Scarlet Thread (Hutchinson)
- 1991 : The Relic
- 1992 : The Doll's House (Bantam)
- 1994 : Exposure
- 1994 : The Heiress
- 1994 : Bloodstones (Bantam)
- 1997 : The Legacy (Bantam)
- 2002 : A Dubious Legacy
- 2002 : Codeword Janus
- 2003 : Sleeping with the Enemy
- 2004 : Betrayal
- 2004 : No Resistance
- 2005 : Mind Games
- 2015 : The Defector
- 2015 : The Avenue of the Dead
- 2015 : The Company of the Saints
- 2015 : Rebel Prince
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Kean, Danuta (10 October 2018). "Evelyn Anthony obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ "Evelyn Anthony obituary". 5 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
- ^ Ward-Thomas, Christian (28 September 2018). "Ward-Thomas.- Evelyn". The Telegraph.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hayes, Lizzies. "Evelyn Anthony". www.mysterypeople.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ Trademe.co.nz Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Evelyn Anthony Biography - (1928– ), Imperial Highness, Victoria, Elizabeth, Clandara, Assassin, The Poellenberg Inheritance, The Occupying Power". www.jrank.org. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ "Evelyn Anthony". IMDb. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
External links[]
- 1926 births
- 2018 deaths
- English women novelists
- English thriller writers
- English historical novelists
- People educated at Woldingham School
- 20th-century English novelists
- High Sheriffs of Essex
- 20th-century English women writers
- Women thriller writers
- Women historical novelists
- Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period
- Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age