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Any JAN WESTCOTT fans out there?

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love_uk
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Any JAN WESTCOTT fans out there?

Post by love_uk » Sat August 8th, 2009, 4:40 am

I'm a huge fan of Jan Westcott & have been for many years. Have most of her books in 50-cent paperbacks which are falling apart from re-reading. Recently obtained The Tower & The Dream about Bess of Hardwick & IMHO her portrayal of Bess is vastly superior to that in PG's The Other Queen - a truly remarkable character.

Jan W is one of the authors who turned me on to HF. I especially loved The Queen's Grace about Katherine Parr (even if she paints an unlikely portrait of Admiral Tom), as it was the 1st book of hers that I read. Very fond of The Walsingham Woman. Likewise, The Border Lord & The Hepburn.

If you haven't read her, please give her books a try!

Books by Jan Westcott:
The Hepburn
The White Rose
The Border Lord
The Tower and the Dream
Queen's Grace
Captain Barney
Captain for Elizabeth
Set Her on a Throne
The Walsingham Woman
Condottiere
Woman of Quality
Joan

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sat August 8th, 2009, 5:15 am

I loved The White Rose. I started reading The Tower and the Dream the other day but couldn't get through it--one minute Bess was chatting to Cavendish about land, the next she was hopping into bed with him, without any real build-up. I still mean to try her other books, though--I have Set Her on a Throne and The Hepburn here, and I'd like to try the one about Katherine Parr.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Sat August 8th, 2009, 11:32 am

I love discovering these long lost authors, thank you. I'm not going to look for a while, I was thoroughly corrupted yesterday by a new discovery.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Sat August 8th, 2009, 11:56 pm

I have read the Queen's Grace and the Hepburn. TQG was a teenage favortie of mine, although I have since realized that he massaged the facts a bit to make a better story.
Oh, by the way, Jan Wescott is a man.

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sun August 9th, 2009, 12:34 am

[quote=""MLE""]I have read the Queen's Grace and the Hepburn. TQG was a teenage favortie of mine, although I have since realized that he massaged the facts a bit to make a better story.
Oh, by the way, Jan Wescott is a man.[/quote]

The jacket photo on my copy of The White Rose certainly isn't that of a man!
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

annis
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Post by annis » Sun August 9th, 2009, 1:12 am

I don't know this author, but noticed one bookseller had a JW book advertised as being by the "Queen of Historical Romance". There doesn't appear to be a biography anywhere which would answer the question, though.

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sun August 9th, 2009, 1:14 am

I saw a snippet from an old book of author biographies on Google Books that stated that Wescott was born in Philadelphia and referred to her as "she," but that's as far as Google let me see.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Sun August 9th, 2009, 1:26 am

Wow, I stand corrected. I read a review years ago on The Queen's Grace which referred to the author as 'he' -- which surprised me at the time, but I thought, well, Jan is a man's name in Dutch. And that's where it stuck.

I believe I have also read the White Rose.

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love_uk
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Post by love_uk » Sun August 9th, 2009, 6:24 am

She's also known as Jan Vlachos Westcott & was born in 1912. The author photo I have on Tower has her looking a bit like Eleanor Roosevelt!
Joan

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sun August 9th, 2009, 1:25 pm

[quote=""love_uk""]She's also known as Jan Vlachos Westcott & was born in 1912. The author photo I have on Tower has her looking a bit like Eleanor Roosevelt![/quote]

There is a strong resemblance, now that you mention it!
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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