Cora Linda

Steve Lewis at Mystery*File recently wrote a piece on British crime writer T. Arthur Plummer (29 August). There isn't a great deal known about him -- he was an actor-turned-writer who was pretty popular in the 1930s and 1940s.

Jamie Sturgeon (who deals in crime novels and is a fellow digger-at-the-coal-face when it comes to obscure British writers) dropped me a line this evening with the news that he'd discovered that Plummer's wife was also a writer -- she being Cora Linda, who penned dozens (the list below is far from complete) of romance libraries.

Jamie had been searching through the Electoral Role for information and turned up the fact that the Plummers (who separated and divorced at some point) had a daughter, Clare Emsley Plummer, who was also a prolific writer of romances under the names Clare Plummer and Clare Emsley.

I did some digging and located some dates for the two writers: Coralie Marie Plummer (possibly born Linder) was born on 12 August 1885 and died in Worthing in 1981. Her daughter, Clare Emsley Plummer, was born on 23 September 1912 and died in Worthing in 1980.

Novels by Cora Linda [Coralie Marie Plummer]
The Woman Hater. London, Aldine (4½d Novels 9), 1925.
A Man's Past. London, Aldine (4½d Novels 10), 1929.
His Marriage Trap. London, Newnes (Pocket Novels NS/104), 1930.
A Woman Cheated. London, Newnes (Pocket Novels NS/110), 1930.
Her Broken Plaything. London, Newnes (Pocket Novels NS/138), 1931.
The First Mrs. Ross. London, Gramol (Adelphi Novels 5), 1932.
Romantic Mary. London & Dundee, J. Leng & Co. (People's Friend Library 318), 1932.
A Woman's Problem. London, Newnes (Pocket Novels 26), 1933.
The Man With Two Brides. London, Pearsons (Star Library 8), 1933.
A Wife in Exile. London, Newnes (2d Novels), 1934.
Her Secret Shame. London, Newnes (2d Novels 11), 1934.
The Road She Chose. London & Dundee, J. Leng & Co. (People's Friend Library 532), 1940.
No Child of Their Own. Liverpool, C. Tinling (Women's 4½d Novels 3), 1941.
Born to Love. Liverpool, C. Tinling (Women's 4½d Novels 12), 1941.
Not the Wife He Wanted. London, Amalgamated Press (Woman's World Library 151), c.1947.
Why She Wouldn't Marry. London, Amalgamated Press (Woman's World Library 170), 1948.
Dangerous Marriage. London, Amalgamated Press (Woman's World Library 172), 1948.
Child In the Shadows. London, Fleetway Publications (Woman's World Library 588), 1966.

NOVELS BY CLARE EMSLEY PLUMMER

Novels
Unknown Heritage. London, Robert Hale, 1963.
Doctor Adam's Past. London, Robert Hale, 1965.
The Awakening of Nurse Grant. London, Hale, 1967.
An Island for Doctor Phillipa. London, Robert Hale, 1969.
Chris Baynton, S.R.N.. London, Hale, 1971.

Novels as Clare Emsley
Painted Clay. London, Stanley Paul & Co., 1947.
Keep Thy Heart. London, Stanley Paul & Co., 1949.
The Broken Arcs. London, Stanley Paul, 1951.
The Fatal Gift. London, Stanley Paul, 1951.
Lonely Pinnacle. London, Stanley Paul, 1952.
Unjust Recompense. London, Stanley Paul & Co., 1953.
The True Physician. London, Stanley Paul, 1954.
Flame of Youth. London, Stanley Paul, 1957.
Call Back Yesterday. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1958.
The Long Journey. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1959.
A Nurse's Sacrifice. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1962.
Doctor Michael's Bondage. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1962.
A Surgeon's Folly. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1963.
Doctor at the Crossroads. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1966.
Nurse Catherine's Marriage. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1967.
Sister Rachel's Vigil. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1968.
Doctor Rowland's Daughters. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1970.
A Time To Heal. London, Arrow Books, 1972 [1971]; Hurst & Blackett, 1972.
Highway to Fate. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1973.
A Heart's Captivity. London, Hurst & Blackett, 1976.

(* My thanks to Jamie for the cover scan.)