Jude Devereaux Biography
Jude Gilliam was born September 20, 1947 in Fairdale, Kentucky. She has
a large extended family, and is the elder sister of four brothers. She
attended Murray State University and received a degree in Art. In 1967,
Jude married and took her husband's surname of White, but four years
later they divorced. For years, she worked as 5th-grade teacher.
She began writing in 1976 and her first book, The Enchanted Land
was published in 1977 under the name Jude Deveraux. Following the
publication of her first novel, she resigned her teaching position. She
is the author of over 30 New York Times bestsellers. Her early books are
set largely in 15th- and 16th-century England, in which her fierce,
impassioned protagonists find themselves in the midst of blood feuds and
wars. Her heroines are equally scrappy -- medieval Scarlett O'Haras who
often have a low regard for the men who eventually win them over.
They're fighters, certainly, but they're also beauties who are
preoccupied with survival and family preservation.
Jude has also stepped outside her milieu, with mixed results. Her James
River trilogy (River Lady, Lost Lady, and Counterfeit Lady)
is set mostly in post-Revolution America; the popular, softer-edged
Twin of Fire/Twin of Ice moves to 19th-century Colorado.
"Historicals seem to be all I'm capable of," Jude once said in an
interview, referring to a now out-of-print attempt at contemporary
fiction, 1982's Casa Grande. "I don't want to write family sagas or
occult books, and I have no intention of again trying to ruin the
contemporary market." Still, Jude did later attempt modern-day romances,
such as the lighthearted High Tide (her first murder caper), the
contemporary female friendship story The Summerhouse, and the
time-traveling Knight in Shining Armor.
She married Claude Montassir, with whom she had a son, Sam Alexander
Montassir in 1997. They were eventually divorced. In 2005, Sam
died in a motorcycle accident. Jude currently lives in Charlotte,
North Carolina and also has a home in the medieval city of Badolato,
Italy.
This biography was last updated on 08/03/2011.
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