Lucilla Andrews

Lucilla Matthew Andrews Crichton (born 20 November 1919 in Suez, Egypt – d. 3 October 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland) was a British writer of 33 romance novels from 1954 to 1996,[1] she signed as Lucilla Andrews specialised in hospital romances, and under the pen names Diana Gordon and Joanna Marcus published her first mystery romances.

"Diana Gordon" redirects here. For other uses, see Diana Gordon (disambiguation).

Lucilla Matthew Andrews Crichton
BornLucilla Matthew Andrews
(1919-11-20)20 November 1919
Suez, Egypt
Died3 October 2006(2006-10-03) (aged 86)
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Pen nameLucilla Andrews,
Diana Gordon,
Joanna Marcus
OccupationNurse, novelist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
Period1954–1996
GenreRomance
SpouseJames Crichton (1947–1954)
ChildrenVeronica Crichton

She was a founding member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, which honoured her shortly before her death with a lifetime achievement award.[2]

Biography

Born Lucilla Matthew Andrews on 20 November 1919 in Suez, Egypt, the third of four children of William Henry Andrews and Lucilla Quero-Bejar. They met in Gibraltar, and married in 1913. Her mother was daughter of a Spanish doctor and descended from the Spanish nobility. Her British father worked for the Eastern Telegraph Company (later Cable and Wireless) on African and Mediterranean stations until 1932. At the age of three, she was sent to join her older sister at boarding school in Sussex.[2]

She joined the British Red Cross in 1940 and later trained as a nurse at St Thomas' Hospital, London, during World War II. In 1947, she retired and married Dr James Crichton, but discovered that he was addicted to drugs. In 1949, soon after their daughter Veronica was born, he was committed to hospital and she returned to nursing and writing. In 1952, she sold her first romance novel, published in 1954, the same year that her husband died.[2] She specialised in Doctor-Nurse romances, using her personal experience as inspiration.

In 1969, she decided to move to Edinburgh. Her daughter read History at Newnham College, Cambridge, and became a journalist and Labour Party communications adviser, before her death from cancer in 2002.[2]

She died on 3 October 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

Plagiarism

In late 2006, Lucilla Andrews' autobiography No Time for Romance became the focus of a posthumous controversy. It has been alleged that the novelist Ian McEwan plagiarised from this work while writing his novel, Atonement. McEwan has protested his innocence.[3][4][5]

Bibliography

Standalone novels
  • The Print Petticoat (1954)
  • The Secret Armour (1955)
  • The Quiet Wards (1956)
  • The First Year (1957)
  • A Hospital Summer (1958)
  • The Wife of the Red-Haired Man (1959)
  • My Friend the Professor (1960)
  • Nurse Errant (1961)
  • Flowers from the Doctor (1963)
  • The Young Doctors Downstairs (1963)
  • The New Sister Theatre (1964)
  • The Light in the Ward (1965)
  • A House for Sister Mary (1966)
  • Hospital Circles (1967)
  • Highland Interlude (1968)
  • The Healing Time (1969)
  • Edinburgh Excursion (1970)
  • Ring O'Roses (1972)
  • Silent Song (1973)
  • In Storm and in Calm (1975)
  • Busman's Holiday (1978)
  • The Crystal Gull (1978)
  • After a Famous Victory (1984)
  • Lights of London (1985)
  • The Phoenix Syndrome (1987)
  • Frontline 1940 (1990)
  • The Africa Run (1993)

Endel & Lofthouse Trilogy
  1. A Few Days in Endel (1967) aka Endel House (originally as Diana Gordon)
  2. Marsh Blood (1980) (originally as Joanna Marcus)
  3. The Sinister Side (1996)

Jason Trilogy
  1. One Night in London (1979)
  2. Weekend in the Garden (1981)
  3. In an Edinburgh Drawing Room (1983)

Serialised novels
  • The Golden Hour (Woman and Home; 1955–6)
  • The Fair Wind (Woman's Weekly; 1957)
  • Pippa's Story (Woman's Weekly; 1968)

Omnibus
  • My Friend the Professor / Highland Interlude / Ring O' Roses (1979)

References
  1. BBC – Radio 4 – Last Word
  2. Langdon, Julia (17 October 2006). "Lucilla Andrews". Guardian Online Obituaries. London. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  3. "An inspiration, yes. Did I copy from another author? No". Guardian Online. London. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
  4. Hoyle, Ben (27 November 2006). "McEwan hits back at call for atonement". The Times. UK. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
  5. "McEwan accused of copying writers memoirs". PR inside. Archived from the original on 26 March 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
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