Belva Plain captured readers' hearts with her first novel, Evergreen (1978), published when the author was a grandmother. It topped The New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks and aired as an NBC-TV miniseries in 1985. In all, twenty of her novels appeared on The New York Times best-seller list.
Before she became a novelist, Belva Plain wrote short stories for many major magazines (she sold her first story to Cosmopolitan), 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. In retrospect, she said, "I didn't make the time." Now, with well over 25 million copies of her books in print, translated into 22 languages, her fans can be grateful she demonstrated a better-late-than-never attitude.
A Barnard College graduate who majored in history, Belva Plain enjoyed a wonderful marriage of more than 40 years to Irving Plain, an ophthalmologist, who died in 1982. She lived most of her life in New Jersey where she and her husband raised their family. Belva Plain died at her home in October 2010. She was 95.
Author biography courtesy of Random House, Inc.
