15 Facts About Jo Beverley

Mary Josephine Beverley was a prolific English-Canadian writer of historical and contemporary romance novels from 1988 to 2016.

Jo Beverley's works have been translated into several languages, and she has received multiple awards.

Jo Beverley read history and American studies at Keele University in Staffordshire from 1966 to 1970, where she earned a degree in English history.

Jo Beverley stayed in this profession until 1976, working first in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and then in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire.

In 1976, Jo Beverley moved to Canada, where her scientist husband was invited to do post-doctoral research at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

When her professional qualifications proved unusable in the Canadian labour market, Jo Beverley decided to develop her early interest in creative writing.

At this point, Jo Beverley did not have a fixed idea of the narrower literary boundaries drawn by the traditional Regency romantic novel and thus created a literary hybrid.

The turning point in Jo Beverley's writing career came when her move to Montreal led to her attendance at a talk on "The state of romance in fiction" by Janet Adams, at Beaconsfield Library on 23 May 1984.

The executive advisor of the Writers' Association for Romance and Mainstream demystified the creative process for the budding author and was sufficiently impressed by Jo Beverley's writing to act as her agent.

That same year, the family moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where Jo Beverley became a founding member of the Ottawa Romance Writers' Association.

Jo Beverley became a Canadian with dual citizenship, and she and Ken raised their two sons there, then moved to Victoria, British Columbia.

In 2012, Jo Beverley survived a bout with cancer and was in remission for four years.

Jo Beverley died in a care home in Yorkshire, England.

Jo Beverley's works have been translated into many languages and won her many awards, including five RITAs and two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times.

Jo Beverley won The Golden Leaf Award, and the Readers' Choice Award.