The Stalin of slush
Barbara Cartland wrote more than 700 novels
ALAMY/PA, JUSTIN WILLIAMS
Once upon a time, especially after the Second World War, Cartland’s romances shaped the reading habits of millions, from the scullery to the boudoir.
A FRIEND OF MINE, educated at an English girls’ boarding school in the age of St Trinian’s, tells the story of getting caught with a Barbara Cartland in the school loos. In fear and trembling, she was brought before the headmistress. Prunella, however, was merely admonished for her bad taste, and sentenced with crafty wisdom. She remembers the horror of her punishment: to copy out the first page of A Virgin in Paris 10 times. “I never opened a Cartland romance again.”
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