I was sitting in church a couple of Sundays ago and visiting with friends about books. (I know this comes as a huge surprise.) Anyway, one of the ladies mentioned that she liked Victoria Holt and could I recommend any other authors like her. As usual my mind went blank but I promised her I would find some authors who read like Victoria Holt. This got me to thinking that articles on read-alike authors might be a good idea. So this is the first of periodic "read-alike" articles. Kathy and Marilyn, this is for you..

Born in 1906 in London, England Victoria Holt is the most well known pseudonym for Eleanor Hibbert. Her most common writing style or genre was Gothic Romance. She was often called the "Queen of Romantic Suspense". She also wrote under many other names and the best known of those were Philippa Carr and Jean Plaidy. She published her first book, a historical novel, as Jean Plaidy in 1949. The library has two Jean Plaidy titles, "Lady in the Tower" and "Murder Most Royal". Under the name Philippa Carr she wrote the St. Bruno family saga. Eleanor became a best selling author when she wrote "Mistress of Mellyn" as Victoria Holt. The rest is history. From 1960 until the 1980s Victoria Holt was a fixture on the best seller lists. Eleanor Hibbert died in 1993, having written over 200 books.

The list of read-alike authors goes on and on so I will just highlight a few of the better known.

Mary Higgins Clark is one of my favorites and is still a best selling author. Once I start one of her books, I must read it in one setting because they are so suspenseful. I can’t put them down. Her most recent book is "Where Are You Now". She is also now co-authoring a special holiday mystery series with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark. Carol writes the Reagan Reilly mysteries, the most recent of which is "Zapped".

Phyllis Whitney is another author who readers of Victoria Holt might enjoy. As with Victoria Holt, the library has many books by Phyllis Whitney. She was a prolific author and died in 2008 at the age of 104. Phyllis Whitney along with Victoria Holt and another read-alike author Mary Stewart were on a popularity level all their own.

Mary Stewart is probably best known for her Merlin Series. I read and enjoyed this series in the 1970s. In it she combines historical romance and fantasy. More often she writes mystery and suspense romances.

Some other Victoria Holt read-alike authors are Dorothy Eden, Johan Aiken, Susan Howatch, Catherine Cookson, Janet Daily, Jude Deveraux, Madeliene L’Engles, Belva Plain, and Barbara Michaels (a.k.a. Elizabeth Peters). The list goes on and on. Stop by the library and ask our librarians to help you find authors who read-like your favorites.

Finally, thank you Betty Balderson for the following quotation:

"Literacy brings hope and power: Hope for a better life, and power to do something about it."

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