Belva Plain

Belva Plain captured reader's hearts with her first novel, EVERGREEN, which Delacorte published nearly thirty years ago. It topped the New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks and aired as an NBC-TV miniseries. In total, more than twenty of her books have been New York Times 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. Today she has almost 30 million copies of her books in print. 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 twenty-five 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.