Dilly Court Explained

Pseudonym:Lily Baxter
Birth Place:London, England
Dilly Court
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Genre:Historical fiction
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Dilly Court (born 1940) is an English author of popular historical fiction and family saga novels also writing under the pseudonym of Lily Baxter.[1] She published her first book when she was 65 and,, her novels have sold more than four million copies.[1]

Early life

Court grew up in northeast London, leaving school when she was 16 to work as a secretary at broadcaster Associated-Rediffusion.[1] She began her career in television, writing scripts for commercials.[2] Working in the advertising department, she was able to move into a copywriting position, which allowed her to exercise her love of writing.[1]

Literary career

Court did not begin writing novels until 1997, and it took until 2005 and a string of rejections before one was accepted for publication: Mermaids Singing.[1] As of 2020, she has published more than 30 novels, and had multiple titles on The Sunday Times Bestseller List including The Button Box, which reached #2 in 2017.[3] [4] [5] In 2023, her novel Dolly's Dream reached #2 on The Booksellers Official Top 50 UK chart and #1 on their Mass Market Fiction chart.[6]

Despite her impressive sales, her books have largely been ignored by critics. In 2020, Robbie Millen, literary editor for The Times, admitted that he hadn't previously heard of Court and that his paper had never reviewed any of her titles, nor had other major British newspapers.[7]

Her latest book is A Thimble for Christmas set to be released on 22 October 2024.[8]

Personal life

Court has been married twice (in 1967, to a sea captain, and in 1995, to a dentist) and has two children.[1], she resides in Dorset.[1]

Selected works

Standalone novels

Series

The River Maid series

The Village Secrets series

The Rockwood Chronicles

As Lily Baxter

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Membery . York . 'I had 30p to my name before becoming a bestseller in my 60s' . 7 May 2023 . The Telegraph . 26 February 2023.
  2. Web site: July 2, 2024 . About Dilly Court .
  3. Web site: Dilly Court. 2020-10-01. Penguin UK.
  4. News: Dilly Court signs six more books with HarperFiction . The Bookseller. 2020-10-01. Natasha . Onwuemezi . 6 October 2017.
  5. Dilly Court's THE BUTTON BOX is No. 2 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List! . Knight Hall Agency . 7 May 2023 . 21 June 2017.
  6. News: O'Brien . Kiera . The Official UK Top 50: Slow Cooker book simmers in top spot: The Bored of Lunch slow cooker book remains at number one for a second week running, atop a chart dominated by fiction titles. . 7 May 2023 . The Bookseller . 17 February 2023 . 16–21 . English.
  7. News: Millen . Robbie . Dilly Court, the queen of the saga, on making it at 65 . 7 May 2023 . The Times . 26 December 2020 . en.
  8. Web site: July 2, 2024 . A Thimble for Christmas .

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