Plot stealing

[princess garnet]

I came across this interesting article (http://worldofroyaltyblog.com/2011/08/barbara-cartland-stole-plots-rival-author-alleged/) about the late Dame Barbara Cartland and Georgette Heyer--previously unpublished letters about allegations of plagarism dating back to the 1950s. A book is forthcoming.

[SGM]

Ha! Eventually. These accusations have been well known for quite some time but everyone has been very cagey about exactly who the culpit was (although everyone knew). Jane Aiken Hodges deals with the plagarism to some extent in her book about Heyer but never names names. There were other authors that Heyer was quite upset about and she didn't take matter lightly.

[Misfit]

Oh my. That is interesting.

[Michy]

If the plagiarism was as blatant and obvious as stated in this article, I wonder why it was never stopped? It doesn't sound as though Ms. Heyer would have been afraid to file a suit.

It doesn't surprise me at all that Cartland lifted her stories from someone else. Even as a young teenager I never could read her stuff - waaaaay too fluffy.

[annis]

I was always struck by a basic hypocritical ickiness about Cartland's work, and even though I went through a historical romance stage, her work didn't appeal. Recently (thanks to dear Madame Guillotine) I rediscovered a rare BC novel which had stuck in my mind called Desire of the Heart (although I had forgotten Cartland wrote it). I re-read it not too long ago and (sorry Madame G) was dismayed by its moral bankruptcy - ugh! It made me feel positively contaminated :(

Maybe suing other authors for plagiarism wasn't the done thing during the period when Heyer was writing her novels?

[SGM]

Maybe suing other authors for plagiarism wasn't the done thing during the period when Heyer was writing her novels?

Well, let's face it Heyer's husband was a barrister so could knew how to get the best legal advice.

I think that Heyer very much wanted to take the matter further but was discouraged by others (I get the impression this included her publishers, but I might be wrong about that). She was in constant conflict with the tax man and the legal process in the UK is very very very expensive.

[LoveHistory]

Dame Barbara's son said this:

“I’ve never heard that story. It’s more likely, I would have thought, the other way round.”

Oh puh-leeze! Right. Georgette Heyer copied Cartland's work before it was written. Sure.

[SGM]

I only read one Barbara Cartland when I was very young - it was obvious to attempt to, after all Cartland had written loads. But I really couldn't get on with it. I was probably too young to realise why but in later years I came to realise that, of course, although she had the plots - after all they were Heyer's (plotting is an ability I wish Heyer's more recent emulators had managed to pick up from her) - but she didn't have the humour, charm or the lightness of touch.

I am not claiming any great depth for Heyer's Regency novels. They are just fun (well-researched fun) with plots that actually work and great dialogue that you can go back to in even in later years. Cartland really couldn't copy that even if she stole a great deal of Heyer's terminology.

[annis]

Wonder if the Cartland estate will sue the author of the forthcoming book?!

[LoobyG]

What an interesting article, thanks for posting Princess Garnet. Makes me glad that I've never been tempted to open a Cartland book...:p

[Michy]

I think I may have read one when I was a teenager, but certainly not more than that. There always seemed to be a lot of them in the libraries at that time (early '80s) and I was turned off by the covers, which always pictured heroines with huge doe eyes looking startled. I was also turned off by the inevitable photo of Cartland on the back covers, dressed to the nines with heavy makeup and jewelry, a huge bouffant hairdo and surrounded by dogs. And I also remember reading somewhere that she dictated all her books. It was some article that, I think, was supposed to convey how "elegant" she was, but it was a huge turn-off for me. Even as a teenager I understood there was more to writing books -- good books, that is --- than that!

She may have been a very smart lady, but she sure didn't come across that way, which is why it doesn't surprise me that she stole all her book plots and characters!

[LoveHistory]

I've read one Cartland book. It was rather short, and while the plot was ok, the writing was nothing special. I haven't bothered to read anymore. Think I'll stick with Heyer.

[Ludmilla]

I know I read several by Cartland when I was a teen, but they all seemed very formulaic and much the same. Completely forgettable and not worth revisiting. I only remember really liking one. It was the one they made into a tv movie with a young Helena Bonham Carter and Diana Rigg as the villianess, if I remember correctly (can't remember title of it).

Speaking of Heyer, in honor of her birthday this week, Sourcebooks is running a special (http://www.sourcebooks.com/readers/casavip/happy-birthday-ms-heyer.htm) on ebooks for August 15 - 21.

[annis]

I vaguely remember that movie which was called Hazard of Hearts. Love this review:

A Hazard of Hearts, dramatised for television in 1987, could hardly be a better demonstration of Barbara Cartland's unique status as the most critically reviled, yet widely read, romantic novelist. The qualities which feed both points of view are present in abundance. There are the certainties of a wafer-thin plot: vulnerable but plucky young heiress falls on hard and tragic times, sails through mortal danger and escapes the clutches of lecherous older man, chastity intact, before claiming enigmatic and devastatingly handsome Lord for her own at the last minute. There are the pantomime characters, atrocious dialogue-by-numbers, set-piece scenes involving duels and smugglers, tight breeches and heaving bosoms. Produced by Lew Grade and the team behind The New Avengers and The Professionals, this is 90 minutes of camp hokum crammed to bursting point with stars clearly having the time of their lives. Helena Bonham Carter, her face like an earnest, worried raisin, is the heroine Serena, with Marcus Gilbert as her paramour. But Diana Rigg's evil Lady Harriet steals the show.

[SGM]

Hugh Grant was in one called The Lady and the Highwayman. I only saw snippets of it but had a friend (who was generally very sensible and not a Cartland reader) who find it (or Hugh Grant) quite compelling in it. But I don't like Hugh Grant any more than I like Cartland although, I think, it was fairly early days for him.