Maureen Stephenson
Maureen Stephenson in 1983
Born
Maureen Duffy

(1927-02-14)14 February 1927
Manchester, England
Died5 July 2008(2008-07-05) (aged 81)
Ansley, Warwickshire, England
Known forAuthor
Spouses
Louis John Stephenson
​
​
(m. 1954; died 2008)​
Children3

Maureen Stephenson (b. Manchester, England, 14 February 1927, d. Nuneaton, England, 5 July 2008) was an author of romantic and gothic mysteries.[1]

Personal life

Stephenson was born to father Joseph Duffy, a tailor, and mother Anne, née Byrom. She attended high school in London. She married Louis John Stephenson, an engineer and later Warwickshire County councillor,[2] in 1954. They had three children. She lived at the The Old Mill, Ansley,[2] from the 1980s until her death. The mill is thought to be the inspiration for George Eliot’s 1860 novel The Mill on the Floss.[2]

Work in film

She worked as a production secretary and in film continuity at several major studios, notably Shepperton Studios from 1944-1947, Pinewood Studios from 1948-1950, Denham Studios from 1950-1952 and Ealing Studios from 1952–1954. Of this work, she said “I found working on film scripts invaluable in learning how to build up a story and a character.”[3]

Films on which she worked included:

Writing

Stephenson started writing when her father paid for her to take a correspondence course in fiction writing, about which she said, “In my opinion, such courses are the best way to start.”[4] She bought a historic cottage in the Yorkshire dales in 1977 and began writing romantic mysteries there. She was influenced by the Brontë sisters, stating that “They achieve a mystical otherworldliness that I admire.”[3] The majority of her books were published through Robert Hale.[5]

  • Ride the Dark Moors (1977) Pub. Zebra Books, also published in German
  • The House on Wath Moor (1979) Pub. Zebra Books, also published in German
  • The Flowers of Tomorrow (1980)
  • House on the Heath (1982) A reprint of Wath Moor with a new title. Pub. Zebra Books[6]
  • Autumn of Deception (1982)[7]
  • Roses have Thorns (1983)[8]
  • The Enchanted Desert (1986), also published in Norwegian
  • Snow in my Heart (1987)
  • Never Too Late (1992)
  • The Love Dance (1996)
  • I’ll Wait Forever (1996)
  • Dance Amongst Thorns (1996) Pub. Cosmax Co
  • Kiwi Sunset (2006)

Unbeknownst to Stephenson – Wath Moor US publication rights were unlawfully “sold” to an American named Elliot as part of a tax evasion scheme in which expenses and purported losses associated with publication were to be used to reduce the buyer's liability for income tax. The plan did not succeed.[6]

Other

She published a small run of A Brief History of Ansley around 2000.[9] She was a featured author as part of the second World Book Day in 1999.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Radio". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Coventry, England. 1986-03-26. p. 23.
  2. 1 2 3 Mabel Swift (1991-09-06). "Male masquerade of a great novelist". Tamworth Herald. Tamworth, England. p. 29.
  3. 1 2 Lesniak, James G; Trosky, Susan M (1992). Contemporary Authors New Revision Vol 38. Detroit, USA: Gale Research. p. 412. ISBN 0810319926.
  4. ↑ Evory, Ann (1981). Contemporary Authors New Revision Vol 16. Detroit, USA: Gale Research. p. 373. ISBN 0810319926.
  5. ↑ Christine Barker (1983-12-16). "Best sellers that come right from the heart". Sandwell Evening Mail. Sandwell, England. p. 16.
  6. 1 2 "Elliott v. Comm'r of Internal Revenue". casetext.com. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
  7. ↑ Lesniak, James G (1983). British National Bibliography: A subject catalogue of new British books. London, UK: British Library. p. 1293. ISBN 0712310126.
  8. ↑ Christine Barker (1983-12-16). "Best sellers that come right from the heart". Black Country Evening Mail. Sandwell, England. p. 16.
  9. ↑ Stephenson, Maureen (July 2010). "Incumbents of St Lawrence Ansley from 1220" (PDF). Nuneaton and North Warwickshire Family History Society Journal: 17. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  10. ↑ "Postman Pat pays a visit". Heartland Evening News. Nuneaton, England. 1999-04-28. p. 12.
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