Eleanor Alice Burford was born in London. Her father, Joseph Burford, was something of an odd-job man, with no steady profession, but he quickly passed on his great love of books to his young daughter. She was an avid reader from the age of four onwards. In her early twenties, she married a leather merchant, George Percival Hibbert, who shared her love of books and reading. She was one of the preeminent English authors of historical fiction for most of the 20th century. She used 8 different pen names during her career and many of her readers never suspected her other identities. In 1941, she began signing her novels with her maiden name, Eleanor Burford. Later she created her first and most prolific pseudonym, Jean Plaidy. In the 1950's, she used the pseudonyms Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. In 1960, she created the pseudonyms Anna Percival and the popular Victoria Holt. In 1972, she created her last pseudonym, Philippa Carr. Some of her novels were later re-published under different pseudonyms or titles. By the time of her death in 1993, the novels of Jean Plaidy had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide. Her last novel The Black Opal as Victoria Holt was published posthumously; under this pseudonym, she sold 56 millon copies -- and as Phillipa Carr, 3 million.

Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert was a British writer who began her career signing as Eleanor Burford (her maiden name), and is well-known as Jean Plaidy, Victoria Holt and Philippa Carr. She also wrote under the pseudonyms Kathleen Kellow, Elbur Ford, Ellalice Tate, and Anna Percival. Some of her novels were later re-published under different pseudonyms or titles.