Crescent City by Belva Plain

Biography

Belva Plain captured readers's hearts with her first novel, Evergreen, which Delacorte published twenty-five years ago. It topped The New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks and aired as an NBC-TV miniseries. Since then she has remained at the forefront of contemporary fiction with all of her books becoming national bestsellers.

Before she became a novelist, Belva Plain wrote short stories for many major magazines, but taking care of a husband and three children did not give her the time to concentrate on the novel she always wanted to write. When she looks back now and says that she didn't have the time, she feels as though she's making excuses. In retrospect, she says, "I didn't make the time." But, she reminds us that during the era that she raised her family, women were supposed to concentrate only on their children. Now, with well over 25 million copies of her books in print, and 22 foreign translations, her fans can be grateful that she demonstrated a better-late-than-never attitude, and she shows absolutely no signs of slowing down- her 21st novel, The Sight of the Stars will be published by Delacorte Press in December 2003.

A Barnard College graduate who majored in history, Belva Plain enjoyed a wonderful marriage of more than 40 years to Irving Plain, an opthamologist. Widowed more than fifteen years ago, Ms. Plain still resides in New Jersey where she and her husband raised their family and which is still "home" to her nearby children and grandchildren.

Author biography courtesy of Random House, Inc.

Good to Know

Plain's first short story was published in Cosmopolitan magazine when she was twenty-five; she has been writing ever since.

When she's not writing, Plain enjoys opera, ballet, nature, history, dogs, and reading.