Penelope Halsall (née Jones; 24 November 1946 – 31 December 2011) was a prolific English writer of over 200

romance novels A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the developme ...

. She started writing regency romances as Caroline Courtney, and wrote contemporary romances as Penny Jordan and

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...

s as Annie Groves (her mother's maiden name). She also wrote novels as Melinda Wright and Lydia Hitchcock. Her books have sold over 70 million copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages.

Biography

Penelope Jones was born on 24 November 1946 in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, the eldest of three children born to Anthony Winn Jones and his wife, Margaret Louise (née Groves), She had a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence. A keen reader from childhood, her mother would leave her in the children's section of the local library while she changed her father's library books. Her story-telling career began at the age of eight when she began telling original bedtime stories to her younger sister. Her favourite books were those of

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

Dorothy Dunnett Dorothy, Lady Dunnett (née Halliday, 25 August 1923 – 9 November 2001) was a Scottish novelist best known for her historical fiction. Dunnett is most famous for her six novel series set during the 16th century, which concern the fictiti ...

Catherine Cookson Dame Catherine Ann Cookson (''née'' McMullen; 20 June 1906 – 11 June 1998), was a British writer. She is in the top 20 of the most widely read British novelists, with sales topping 100 million, while she retained a relatively low profile in ...

Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ail ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's plays and poetry and the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. After reading a serialised Mills & Boon book in a woman's magazine, she fell in love with the hero. Jones was eleven and she quickly became an avid fan. Jones left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. In her early days, she spent fourteen years working as a shorthand typist in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Jones married Steve Halsall, an accountant, who died of cancer, predeceasing her. They did not have children, but she had nieces, nephews and godchildren. Jordan died of cancer on 31 December 2011, aged 65, in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England.

Writing career

By her early twenties, Jordan was writing for herself, but her writing career began in earnest when she was 30, encouraged and supported by her husband. He bought her, at a time when he could ill afford it, the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first books. She entered a competition run by the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body representing authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stua ...

. Although she did not win, an agent looking for a new-style

, contacted the R.N.A. In March 1979, she published her first novel under the pseudonym Caroline Courtney, '' Duchess in Disguise'', the same year she published other 4 books. Under this pen-name she published 25 regency romances until 1986. From 1981 to 1983, she signed 3 air-hostess romps as Melinda Wright and 2 thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock, published by Columbine House. In 1981,

Mills & Boon Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd. It was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher. The company moved towards escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. In 1971, the ...

accepted her first novel for them, ''Falcon's Prey'', signed as Penny Jordan. Since then, almost 70 million copies of her 167 Mills & Boon (or

Harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

) novels have been sold worldwide. From 2003, she returned to writing historical novels as Annie Groves (she adopted her mother's maiden-name). Jordan gained much of her inspiration from human interest stories in the news as well as her own family history. She adapted a story told by her grandmother Elsie Jones in ''Ellie Pride''. Across the Mersey by Annie Groves with the subtitle "Two families must face the dangers of war", is dedicated "For all those whose hearts are in Liverpool, no matter where their lives may have taken them".

Bibliography

Series Works as Annie Groves

''Pride family'' * Ellie Pride (2003) * Connie's Courage (2004) * Hettie of Hope Street (2005) ''World War II'' * A Mother's Blessing (2006) aka Goodnight Sweetheart * Some Sunny Day (2006) * The Grafton Girls (2007) * As Time Goes By (2007) ''Campion Family'' * Across the Mersey (2008) * Daughters of Liverpool (2008) * The Heart of the Family (2009) * Where the Heart Is (2009) * When the Lights Go on Again (2010) ''Article Row'' * London Belles (2010) * Home for Christmas (2011) * My Sweet Valentine (2012) * Only a Mother Knows (2013) * A Christmas Promise (2013) ''Empire Street'' * Child of the Mersey (2014) * Christmas on the Mersey (2014) * The Mersey Daughter (2017) * Winter on the Mersey (2017) ''District Nurses'' * The District Nurses of Victory Walk (2018) * Wartime for the District Nurses (2019) * Christmas for the District Nurses (2019) * A Gift for the District Nurses (2020) * The District Nurses Make a Wish (2021) ''Three sisters'' * The Three Sisters of Victory Walk (2022) * Secrets for the Three Sisters (2024)

Biography

Writing career

Bibliography

Series Works as Annie Groves

References and sources

External links