Dorothy Eden (April 3, 1912 – March 4, 1982)

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Dorothy Enid Eden (1912 – 1982) was a novelist and short story writer. She published two novels with the pen name of Mary Paradise. She was born April 3, 1912 in Canterbury Plains, New Zealand, where she attended school and worked as a legal secretary before moving to England in 1954 to pursue a full-time writing career. She died of cancer in London on March 4, 1982.

Eden was best known for her writings in the historical, suspense, and Gothic genres. In addition to writing novels, she also contributed to magazines, including Redbook and Good Housekeeping.

Miss Eden's last novel, An Important Family, was published by Morrow in May 1982, two months after her death. It is described by the publisher as ''a mystery, adventure and love story juxtaposed against the background of manor house England and the harsh beauty of pioneer life a world away.'' Most of the action takes place in New Zealand.

Among the novels brought out here by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, her previous American publisher, are The Vines of Yarrabee, Melbury Square, The Shadow Wife, An Afternoon Walk and The Salamanca Drum.

To Miss Eden survived a sister and brother in Australia and nieces and nephews.

First Book - The Singing Shadows (1940)

Last Book - An Important Family (1982)

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/11/obituaries/dorothy-eden-69-the-author-of-18-gothic-historic-novels.html