Jude Deveraux

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Jude Deveraux – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Jude Deveraux (born September 20, 1947) is an American author of historical and contemporary romance, best known for A Knight in Shining Armor. This full biography covers her life, literary work, themes, legacy, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Jude Deveraux is a prolific and beloved figure in the romance genre, known for weaving sweeping love stories that cross time, place, and sometimes even the supernatural. Over her long career, she has sold tens of millions of books and built enduring series with familiar families and recurring characters. Her work has influenced countless romance writers and continues to enchant readers around the world.

Early Life and Family

Jude Deveraux was born Jude Gilliam on September 20, 1947, in Fairdale, Kentucky, U.S.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art from Murray State University in Kentucky in 1970.

Her early life was modest; she grew up in Kentucky, and her roots shaped her sense of place, character, and atmosphere in many of her stories.

Personal Life & Challenges

Jude Deveraux’s personal life has included both partnerships and tragedy:

• She was first married to Richard Sides (1967–1969).

• Later, she lived with Claude White from about 1970 and then eventually married him in 1987; they divorced in 1991.

• In 1991, while on a tour of Egypt with White, she met Mohammed Montassir, whom she later married.

• She and Montassir had a son, Sam Alexander Montassir, who tragically died in 2005 in an accident at age eight.

One of the darker chapters in her personal life was her involvement with a psychic named Rose Marks (alias “Joyce Michael”). Over about 17 years, Deveraux gave substantial sums (reportedly $17–20 million) to Marks, who claimed she could help Deveraux’s deceased son and intervene in spiritual matters. Marks was eventually convicted of fraud in 2013.

Despite these difficult experiences, Deveraux has continued writing and reaching audiences, showing resilience and commitment to her craft.

Literary Career & Major Works

Entry into Publishing & Rise

Jude Deveraux’s first novel was published in 1977. 40 novels (many of which became New York Times bestsellers) and has sold over 50 million copies as of 2016.

She is best known for writing historical romance (often set in various eras and places) and has also written contemporary romances, paranormal romance, mystery, and time-travel romance.

Signature Series: Montgomery / Taggert Families

One of her major achievements is the Montgomery/Taggert saga—a long interlinked series of novels focusing on the loves, conflicts, and legacies of two families across different time periods and settings.

Among her most famous titles:

• The Black Lyon (1980)

• A Knight in Shining Armor (1989) — perhaps her best-known single novel

• Remembrance

• The Velvet Promise

• Wild Orchids

• True Love (Nantucket Brides Trilogy)

Over time, she expanded to modern settings and occasionally included paranormal or time-travel elements in her stories.

Style, Themes, & Appeal

Some defining characteristics of Deveraux’s work:

• Romantic and emotional stakes: She often places her characters in high emotional conflict—destiny, fate, sacrifice, heartbreak, redemption.

• Strong women & personal agency: Her heroines often act with courage, sometimes in difficult historical contexts.

• Time & place as character: The settings (historical periods, locales) are rich and immersive—she often leans on architecture, local color, family histories.

• Recurring characters & family legacies: The Montgomery/Taggert saga allows readers to revisit characters, track generational arcs, and see how choices echo across time.

• Supernatural / paranormal elements: In many later works, she weaves in ghosts, time slips, otherworldly guidance, or spiritual threads, adding depth and mystery.

• Romance grounded in conflict: Rather than purely idyllic love, she often shows how external pressures, secret sins, or past hurts threaten the relationships.

Her books are beloved for their emotional resonance and the way they let readers escape into sweeping, heartfelt tales.

Historical & Literary Context

Jude Deveraux’s rise came at a time when the romance genre was flourishing—and changing. She belongs to a generation of authors who expanded the scope of romance: mixing historical settings, stronger central female characters, and genre crossovers (romance + mystery + paranormal).

Her use of recurring families and interlinked sagas echoes a kind of “romance universe” approach, which later series romance authors have also adopted.

The inclusion of supernatural elements (ghosts, time travel) also reflects how romance has often merged with speculative or paranormal genres to explore emotional themes beyond conventional constraints.

Legacy & Influence

• Deveraux has influenced a huge number of modern romance writers, both in historical and paranormal romance subgenres.

• Her Montgomery/Taggert series has demonstrated how long-running intergenerational sagas can engage readers over decades.

• Her bestseller status and wide readership helped push romance novels more firmly into mainstream publishing respect.

• Her blending of history, romance, and speculative elements shows how the genre can evolve while still satisfying the emotional core readers love.

• Despite personal adversity, she remains a working writer with devotion to craft and connection to her readers.

Famous Quotes by Jude Deveraux

Here are some well-known quotes attributed to Jude Deveraux:

“My soul will find yours.” “Love can make even nice people do awful things.” “Time has no meaning, Love will endure…” “I don’t like to read books where I feel as though I’ve stepped into the middle of things and don’t know what’s going on…” “My university degree is in art … I do a lot of drawing for all my books … I truly love architecture, so that plays a big part in all my books.”

These quotes reflect her themes of love, endurance, creative craft, and connection.

Lessons from Jude Deveraux

• Embrace emotional truth: Her work shows that stories grounded in emotional stakes resonate deeply with readers.

• Build worlds that feel lived-in: Her skill in imbuing settings, family histories, and characters’ pasts makes her stories immersive.

• Crossover and courage: She wasn’t afraid to move from straight historical to paranormal or contemporary; that flexibility helps longevity.

• Persist through adversity: Her personal challenges (loss, betrayal, financial hardship) did not stop her writing.

• Connect with readers over time: Recurring characters and series give readers a sense of home and continuity.

Conclusion

Jude Deveraux is more than a romance novelist; she is a storyteller whose books have become part of many readers’ emotional lives. From sweeping historical love stories to ghostly whisperings and modern day romance, she has navigated multiple modes while maintaining her core voice: hopeful, earnest, and unafraid of love’s risks.

Her story also reminds us that authors are human—vulnerable, evolving, and resilient. If you like, I can also create a timeline of her major works, or list must-read Jude Deveraux novels with brief summaries. Would you like me to do that?