Belva Plain (October 9, 1915 – October 12, 2010), née Offenberg,
was a
best-selling American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
author
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
of mainstream fiction.
Biography
Belva Offenberg was a third-generation Jewish American who was raised in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
[
] She graduated from
Barnard College
Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
in 1939 with a degree in
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
.
Plain lived in the
Short Hills section of
Millburn, New Jersey
Millburn is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in southwestern Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's ...
.
Before breaking into publishing, Belva Plain wrote short stories for magazines while raising her three children. She sold her first story to ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
'' at age 25 and "contributed several dozen to various women's magazines until she had three children in rapid succession."
[ Her first novel, ''Evergreen'', was published in 1978. It topped the '']New York Times Bestseller List
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
'' for 41 weeks and was made into a TV miniseries.[
'']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' summed up her career Strong-willed women, many of them Jewish and red-haired as well, appear again and again in Ms. Plain’s fiction. Some of her novels use historical settings — “Crescent City,” published in 1984, was set in the Jewish community of Civil War-era New Orleans. Other books tell stories about contemporary issues, sometimes inspired by the headlines — divorce (“Promises”), adoption (“Blessings”), child sexual abuse (“The Carousel”) or babies accidentally switched at birth (“Daybreak”). All of them are full of passion, but there is very little explicit sex.
At her death, there were over 30 million copies of her twenty-plus novels in print in 22 languages.[ Twenty-one of her novels appeared on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list.][ Plain did not own a computer, and wrote all of her novels long-hand on a yellow pad.][
]
Personal life
Plain was married to her husband, Irving Plain, for more than forty years. He died in 1982. She died on October 12, 2010, at her home in Short Hills, New Jersey
Short Hills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) situated within Millburn, in Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area. The community is a commuter town for resi ...
.
Bibliography
Werner Family Saga
* ''Evergreen'' (1978)
* ''Golden Cup'' (1986)
* ''Tapestry'' (1988)
* ''Harvest'' (1990)
* ''Heartwood'' (2011)
Novels
* ''Random Winds'' (1980)
* ''Eden Burning'' (1982)
* ''Crescent City'' (1984)
* ''Blessings'' (1989)
* ''Treasures'' (1992)
* '' Whispers'' (1993)
* ''Daybreak'' (1994)
* ''The Carousel'' (1995)
* ''Promises'' (1996)
* ''Secrecy
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controver ...
'' (1997)
* ''Homecoming'' (1997)
* ''Legacy of Silence'' (1998)
* ''Fortune's Hand'' (1999)
* ''After the Fire'' (2000)
* ''Looking Back'' (2001)
* '' Her Father's House'' (2002)
* ''The Sight of the Stars'' (2003)
* ''Crossroads'' (2004)
References
External links
Belva Plain Official Website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Plain, Belva
1915 births
2010 deaths
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American women writers
American women novelists
Barnard College alumni
Jewish American novelists
Jewish women writers
Writers from Millburn, New Jersey
Writers from New York City