Thursday, February 18, 2016

If you haven't noticed...

That title is completely facetious, because I would think only the most obsessive among you could possibly have noticed (you'd have to be as obsessive as I am, and surely I don't wish that on anyone…), but at long last the new update to my Overwhelming List, which I've been working on for the past few months, has gone live. It actually went live about a week and a half ago, but I'm just getting round to mentioning it.

Whew.

The new total is 1,904 authors on the list, a net gain of somewhere in the neighborhood of 370 authors (I'm not up to mathematics at the moment). I have, by the way, solemnly sworn that I shall never attempt an update with such a large number of authors again. It was threatening to take over my life there for a while. 

In large part, this one grew to such an unmanageable number because of my methodical perusal, several months ago, of the New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors, a site I've known about and occasionally relied on for a long time. But this time, instead of casually poking around or looking up specific authors, I actually went through every single page of the listing and scouted for any potentially British women writers who may have written fiction. I can't swear that I still haven't missed any, but obviously, I gained quite a number.

Rosamunde Pilcher, inexplicably left off my list until now

I'll be doing posts in the next couple of months highlighting many of the authors added to the list. There are, for better or worse, many new authors of romances, including many "unidentified" authors who published short, inexpensive novels—possibly "dime novels" for lack of a better term—for publishers like D. C. Thomson and J. Leng. These publishers had stables of authors who often used pseudonyms, frequently multiple pseudonyms, and they undoubtedly include men who used feminine pseudonyms. Therefore, when I've designated these authors as "unidentified," bear in mind that they could easily be pseudonyms (possibly of other authors on the list), or male, or, for that matter, non-British. I decided to list them in the interests of inclusiveness, but many of these are likely to remain unidentified for at least the foreseeable future, and some, if they were identified, would likely be merged together or removed from the list. Such is life.

But there are also quite a few rather more interesting new additions to my list. I haven't yet had a chance to update the Mystery List, the War List, or the World War II Book List, but I'll be doing that as time allows, and I'll post about the new authors being added, some of whom sound quite intriguing. And I'm also compiling a post about some intriguing new authors that sound right up my middlebrow alley.


For now, I will limit myself to mention one absolutely humiliating oversight that I've just corrected. It's true that each of my recent updates seem to have corrected at least one embarrassing omission, but how the !@#$% had I never added an enormously successful author like ROSAMUNDE PILCHER?! My only defense is that I've never read her work (though perhaps I should have?) and I think it's not general knowledge that she published a number of early novels (starting in 1949) under the pseudonym "Jane Fraser." So perhaps it's forgivable after all, but even if I can't be forgiven for leaving her out for so long, at least I've added her now.

Stay tuned for more posts about more newly-added authors.

7 comments:

  1. Mrs Pilcher is an exceedingly good writer. I interviewed her more than 15 years ago in Plymouth on the publication of her novel Winter Solstice. She started writing as a young mother, writing romantic novels for Collins and continued to write such novels until she wrote The Shell Seekers which brought her a much wider audience. She is very popular in Germany and some of her books have been dramatized into films, too. I asked her which she liked (if any!) the best and she said that closest to the book and the film she admired the most was September. I do hope you will go on to enjoy more of Mrs Pilcher's novels.
    Margaret P

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. How interesting that you got to interview her! I still can't believe that I hadn't added her to my list until now, but I will do penance by actually reading her!

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  2. So as not to add to your shame, I will write you privately about Pilcher!
    Tom

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    1. Thanks, Tom. I only wonder what other bestselling authors are still not included in my list!

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  3. So far the only Pilcher I have read is The Shell Seekers, and I enjoyed that one a lot. I have been meaning to read Coming Home for some time, as my mother loves it and it deals with WWII issues, I believe. I put it off as it is a HEAVY, large book, but a while back there was an eBook sale and I got the eBook version for $1.99, I believe. So it should be headed toward the top of my To Be Read pile.

    Jerri

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    1. I think that's what has kept me from reading her so far, Jerri. I know I should start with The Shell Seekers, but it feels like quite a time commitment!

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    2. I am currently about 25 percent of the way through Coming Home, which I am reading when I need a break from a rather downbeat memoir that I am reading for my "real life" book club. It may be just the book for you. WWII is on the way, and we have spent some time in a boarding school for girls. Although The Shell Seekers is also WWII themed, in part.

      While her books are long, they are smooth reads. And her descriptions of places and houses and towns are delightful, perhaps my favorite descriptions aside from DEStevenson's.

      Jerri

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