The actual life rags to riches story of the romantic writer that by no means fo | Books | Entertainment | EUROtoday

Ladies, in case you’re on the lookout for a darkish and brooding man, the robust, silent sort, to comb you off your ft and wrap you in his muscular arms, be nonetheless your beating hearts. For sure, such a person actually does exist, albeit within the pages of Anne Hampson’s bestselling romantic novels.

The late writer wrote greater than 125 novels for romantic fiction publishers Mills & Boon in a profession spanning 4 a long time, however her personal rags-to-riches story may have been taken straight from the pages of her books.

She was one of many model’s hottest authors from 1969 to 1998 – additionally writing for his or her extra racy and barely extra sexually specific Silhouette and Harlequin ranges.

From humble beginnings as a seamstress dwelling in a caravan stitching blouses for Marks & Spencer within the north of England, to proudly owning mansions in England and Ireland, dwelling within the excessive life within the Caribbean and driving a silver Mercedes, her personal story actually was a modern-day fairy story… though in contrast to her heroines, Anne by no means discovered real love.

At her top, every e book, generally written in a bit of greater than a month, was promoting a minimum of 100,000 copies in 14 completely different nations.

Now her huge physique of highly-entertaining tales is being republished for the digital market in e book kind by Wyndham Books – bringing her work to a brand new era of readers.

Anne died in 2014 and bequeathed her literary property to fellow author and shut buddy Marina Gottlieb Sarles, her neighbour within the Bahamas the place Anne retired to, having travelled the world to be able to precisely painting the glamorous settings of her novels.

Speaking completely to the Sunday Express, Marina reveals how Anne’s early years had been spent in poverty. “Anne had a very tough childhood with a violent mother and lived a rather lonely life,” she says. “She was regularly beaten with a strap. Her parents broke up and her mother married what Anne called a ‘ne’er-do-well’ and her mother made it difficult for Anne to see her father.

“They moved around a lot which was hard for Anne as just as a kindly teacher might take her under her wing, Anne would have to move on. She told me she only got married to escape her mother so it was hardly a great love affair. She was very private about her past which was why she never published her life story.”

According to Marina, who was left Anne’s unpublished autobiography and her entire literary estate, her friend’s marriage was as unhappy as her childhood.

In what sounds like a plot from one of her books, Anne told Marina her husband had an affair and tried to get Anne committed to a mental asylum. Only in real life there was no handsome doctor to step in and save her. Anne only discovered what was happening after answering a phone call from the asylum asking if she was ready and so she fled, leaving behind her only son.

“Unlike her heroines Anne never really found lasting love but she could look after herself and ended up being incredibly successful,” continues Marina.

Born on November 28, 1928, in Cuddington, Cheshire, Anne had two ambitions as a child: to teach and to write. By the age of eight she was writing plays that were performed in school by her classmates. However, by 15 she had left home and school and found herself making Marks & Spencer’s blouses at one shilling (5p) each.

When her marriage broke down she was homeless with £40 in her purse and so returned to the rag trade, living in a tiny caravan that belonged to a friend. Marina picks up the story: “She lived in the country where she could grow her own food.

“Then a buddy of hers advised her Manchester University had been on the lookout for older ladies for a writing course and urged her to use. The principal of the college actually appreciated her however mentioned she couldn’t take her as a result of she had no O-levels. Anne advised me she ended up doing a milk spherical within the morning so she may examine within the afternoon. She gained three O-Levels.”

Anne finally graduated from Manchester University and labored as a instructor. Having offered her stitching machine for £15 to a neighbour, she started to write down in her spare time. Her first novel, Eternal Summer, was revealed in 1969, on the age of 41, altering the course of her life endlessly. Four years later she turned the launch writer for the brand new Harlequin Presents line of romance novels which had been extra sensual than the earlier line, Harlequin Romance.

However Marina insists Anne hated something too racy with what she known as too many “sex snippets” on the expense of actual romance. When she was requested to call the substances to a profitable romantic novel, Anne advised an interviewer in 1974: “A glamorous setting, an attractive young heroine and the type of hero hundreds of women would like as a husband.”

Anne’s heroes embody the haughty however good-looking Charles Barrett, the masterful Shaun Wyndham, the formidable Gavin Huntly and the aesthetic however austere transport magnate Paul Christos. Move over Mr Darcy! Sadly, Anne by no means did meet her personal real-life hero.

She later moved to Killiney, an prosperous coastal suburb of Dublin to a different big property for tax causes, in keeping with Marina, earlier than finally retiring to the Bahamas. “She had grown up in poverty and so really enjoyed the finer things in life when she could finally afford them. She drove nice cars and had lovely jewellery, good shoes and clothes. But she was very generous. She left me a beautiful gold and diamond bracelet. She was worth several million at one point which is amazing given where she came from. My husband is in real estate and sold her the property she owned next door to us in the Bahamas after she fell out with her original real estate agent here. She and I just clicked from the off.

“I felt like I was the daughter she never had and she had a wonderful relationship with my son Nikolai who sadly died earlier this year. We became her family. She was estranged from her own son for many years and I think it was all very difficult for them both.” Anne acted as a mentor to Marina who went on to publish her own novels.”She was such a good friend to me. She became part of our family here,” she smiles. Anne left all her hardback first editions to Marina when she died in 2014 however they had been destroyed in 2019 in Hurricane Dorian. “I was so upset about that but I am delighted her books are being republished,” says Marina.

The books are being re-issued by Wyndham Books. Publisher and proprietor Ian Skillicorn explains: “Anne’s own story was like a modern-day fairy tale. Her heroines display the strength and determination that Anne must have had herself. I really admire how she turned her life around through pure grit and hard work.

“The books give readers romance, hope and a chance to escape into exciting worlds with likeable characters you can root for.”
She might have sometimes knocked a book out a month but Anne certainly didn’t skimp on her research.
“Anne travelled all over the world, and she used these experiences to set many of her books in exotic and far-flung places,” provides Ian.

“Her heroines are often ordinary young women who suddenly find themselves in an extraordinary situation: she might unexpectedly inherit a castle, get a surprise marriage proposal from a Greek tycoon, or even lose her memory.
“Anne’s heroes are the strong, silent type. They are often dark and brooding, from hot Mediterranean countries. They can be assertive, even arrogant, and fabulously wealthy. And of course they are always very handsome. No matter where the story takes place, you are guaranteed an extraordinary journey with thrills, twists and turns, but always assured of a happy ending.”

Just like Anne lastly achieved within the lovely Bahamas.

*Wyndham Books are reissuing all 126 of Anne Hampson’s titles, two a month, completely from Amazon. You should buy them to obtain and hold, or borrow them on Kindle Unlimited. Visit Wyndham Books for contemporary title releases. Introductory supply of 99p for first two e-books.