In Memoriam - Bertrice Small

Bertrice Small, author of historical and erotic romance fiction, has died at the age of 77. She began writing at 40 years of age, with her first novel The Kadin, and went on to publish in excess of 50 more books. She won numerous awards for her writing, including in 2004 a Lifetime Achievement award from Romantic Times magazine.

Bertrice Small will be remembered for her entertaining and steamy stories. Her heroes were handsome and appealing, but it was her heroines who really shone. They were not only beautiful, but strong-willed and capable. Her stories were set from the 14th to the 17th centuries, largely in England, Scotland and Italy. Her novels were always rooted in historical fact and alive with rich details and for many, their first introduction to bold and erotic fiction.

Romantic Times remembers Small:

Bertrice published her first novel,The Kadin in 1978, and went on to write more than 50 romances. Fans flocked to her passionate, exciting stories, and many count her beloved raven-haired, hot-tempered Skye O'Malley as an all-time favorite heroine. Bertrice not only hit the bestselling lists of The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today and more, but she helped found this genre that we love so much, by writing exciting, edgy stories, at a time when no one else was doing so.

Her final novel Lucianna was published in 2003.

"In this sweeping new series of Renaissance Italy, Bertrice Small does it again with all the passion and historical splendor that has captured the imagination of her legion of fans…. After her two elder sisters become the scandals of Florence, Lucianna Pietro d’Angelo is in the difficult position of finding a wealthy man who will have her for his wife. She has little choice but to accept the proposal of an aging bookseller—a not entirely disagreeable union in which Lucianna comforts the dear man in his final years. When he passes away, she inherits his shop and, with it, a sizable fortune. Lucianna is content with comfortable widowhood—until Robert Minton, Earl of Lisle, visits her bookshop. The Englishman is not only dashing and handsome—he’s a trusted courtier of Henry VII. The Pietro d’Angelos cannot deny the spark of attraction between their daughter and the earl, so they scheme to send her to London. There, Lucianna steps out of the shadow of her quiet Florentine life, pursuing a love of which she never dreamed and rising in London society all the way to court of the new Tudor king." publisher