Charlotte Lamb (1937–2000)
Author of In the Still of the Night
About the Author
Sheila Holland, known by her pen name Charlotte Lamb (born 22 December 1937 in Dagenham, Essex, England and died 8 October 2000 in Isle of Man), was a prolific and bestselling romantic novelist. She left school at 16, and got a job at the Bank of England as a clerk. Lamb continued to teach herself show more by taking advantage of the bank's library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Lamb began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days and in between raising five children wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, among other pseudonyms, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Harlequin Mills & Boon in 1973. She died in October 2000 at the age of 62. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Her full name was Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland, she started writing as Sheila Coates (her maiden name and as Sheila Holland (her married name). She also wrote under the pennames Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy.
Image credit: Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
Series
Works by Charlotte Lamb
Romance Treasury: Follow a Stranger / Man in Charge / The Bride of Romano (1977) — Contributor — 6 copies
Romance Treasury: The Blue Jacaranda / Sweet Sanctuary / The Rainbow Days (1982) — Contributor — 2 copies
Romance Treasury: This Wish I Have / Sister to Meryl / Desert Barbarian (1986) — Contributor — 2 copies
Romance Treasury: The Bahamian Pirate / Master of Ben Ross / Florentine Spring (1981) — Contributor — 2 copies
Romance Treasury: Heart of the Scorpion / The Winds of Heaven / Sweet Compulsion (1987) — Contributor — 2 copies
Romance Treasury: Web of Silver / The Voice in the Thunder / Carnival Coast (1982) — Contributor — 2 copies
リッツで夕食 (エメラルドコミックス) 1 copy
Strijd om de macht 1 copy
Dreaming - Gadis Impian 1 copy
Prijs van de hartstocht 1 copy
Trois mots magiques 1 copy
النصف الآخر180 1 copy
92 لمن ترف الجفون 1 copy
18 الدوامة 1 copy
Die liefde van gister 1 copy
Waar liefde wint 1 copy
Il mio cuore lo sapeva 1 copy
The Mortal Moon 1 copy
O Palios arravoniastikos 1 copy
Endelig den rette 1 copy
Een man als geen ander 1 copy
Een lang vergeten liefde 1 copy
Carnaval la Veneţia 1 copy
Öövaikuses 1 copy
Violência 1 copy
Nulla è cambiato 1 copy
Tajná vášeň 1 copy
In een tijdloze nacht 1 copy
Gedreven door verlangen 1 copy
Violation 1 copy
Affascinante e imprevedibile 1 copy
Wanneer de dooi inzet 1 copy
Enkelinkuvia lumessa — Author — 1 copy
Romance Treasury: Meet the Sun Halfway / A Family Affair / Kyle's Kingdom (1979) — Contributor — 1 copy
Associated Works
Obsession — Original Text — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Coates Holland, Sheila Ann Mary
- Other names
- Coates, Sheila
Holland, Sheila
Lamb, Charlotte
Woolf, Victoria
Lancaster, Sheila
Hardy, Laura - Birthdate
- 1937-12-22
- Date of death
- 2000-10-08
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- England (birth)
UK - Places of residence
- Essex, England (birth)
Isle of Man - Education
- Ursuline Convent for Girls
- Occupations
- novelist
bank clerk
secretary - Relationships
- Holland, Richard (husband)
Holland, Sarah (daughter)
Holland, Jane (daughter) - Short biography
- Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
- Disambiguation notice
- Her full name was Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland, she started writing as Sheila Coates (her maiden name and as Sheila Holland (her married name). She also wrote under the pennames Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy.
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Statistics
- Works
- 215
- Also by
- 14
- Members
- 2,424
- Popularity
- #10,583
- Rating
- 3.0
- Reviews
- 48
- ISBNs
- 749
- Languages
- 8