Jude Deveraux was born on September 20, 1947, and was originally named Jude Gilliam. She is an American writer who creates stories about historical romances. Deveraux has written over 40 books, many of which have been listed on the New York Times Best Seller list. Some of her well-known books include A Knight in Shining Armor and Remembrance. As of 2016, her books have sold more than 50 million copies. In 1987, she appeared in a documentary called Where the Heart Roams, which focuses on romance novel writers.
Literary work
Deveraux is known for writing historical romance novels that focus on strong, capable heroines. Her stories are set in different time periods, such as post-Revolutionary America, nineteenth century Colorado, and nineteenth century New Mexico. Many of her books follow the Montgomery and Taggert families and include characters that appear in multiple stories.
She has also written time-travel romance novels, and her later works are set in modern times. More recent books often include paranormal storylines.
In 2009, she was one of four authors who helped create books for Vook, a company that makes "video books" by combining text, videos, and internet links into one experience.
In 2016, Deveraux wrote A Girl From Summer Hill, a modern version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Personal life
Deveraux was born in Fairdale, Kentucky, United States. She was married to Richard Sides from 1967 to 1969. In the late 1960s, she met Claude White, and they began living together in 1970. They married in 1987 and divorced in 1991. In 1991, during a trip to Egypt with White, she met Mohammed Montassir. They married and had a son named Sam Alexander Montassir. Their son died in 2005 at the age of eight after being hit by a truck near their home in North Carolina.
In 1991, Deveraux first met psychic Rose Marks, who was known to her as "Joyce Michael." She visited Marks for a psychic reading because of problems in her marriage to White and issues with infertility. Their relationship became stronger after her son’s death, and Marks kept Deveraux separated from her friends and family. Marks claimed she could help Deveraux continue to contact her son and protect him from being "caught between heaven and hell."
Over 17 years, Marks took between $17 million and $20 million from Deveraux, leaving her with very little money, even though she had a successful writing career. Marks told Deveraux and others that their money and valuable items were cursed by negative forces and needed to be given to her for "cleansing rituals." She promised to return the items, but they were never returned. In 2013, Marks was found guilty of fraud. She lost an appeal of her sentence in 2016.