Queen of romance novels Judith Krantz dies at 91
Washington DC: Judith Krantz, whose steamy, glitzy romance novels — about the obscene exploits of the obscenely wealthy — were devoured by millions of readers and transformed the former Good Housekeeping editor into a publishing and television sensation, died June 22 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 91.
The death was confirmed by her publicist, John Tellem, who did not give a precise cause.
Ms. Krantz burst onto the literary scene in 1978 with "Scruples" — a racy Cinderella tale about the making of a Beverly Hills boutique owner — that sold about 5 million copies in its first two years in print.
Though she was paid a relatively small sum for the book — $50,000 — Ms. Krantz would later garner record-breaking advances, earning millions of dollars from her top-selling romances and the TV miniseries made from them. Her novels, 10 in all, sold more than 80 million copies, were translated into over 50 languages and became fixtures of bestseller lists for decades.
Critics rarely had kind words for Ms. Krantz's books, but she saw them as pure entertainment. "It's not Dostoevsky," she told The Washington Post in 1986. "It's not going to tax your mental capacities. It's not ahhrtt."
Ms. Krantz spun ornate, breathless tales with only-in-your-dreams endings. Her powerful heroines had showgirl names (Maxi Amberville, Kiki Kavanaugh, Jazz Kilkullen), fabulous wardrobes and beauty so astounding it defied the English language. "Her changeable eyes were an unnameable color that held in it the bewitchment of a thousand twilights," she wrote of one character in "Mistral's Daughter" (1982).
Critics rarely had kind words for Ms. Krantz's books, but she saw them as pure entertainment. "It's not Dostoevsky," she told The Washington Post in 1986. "It's not going to tax your mental capacities. It's not ahhrtt."
Ms. Krantz spun ornate, breathless tales with only-in-your-dreams endings. Her powerful heroines had showgirl names (Maxi Amberville, Kiki Kavanaugh, Jazz Kilkullen), fabulous wardrobes and beauty so astounding it defied the English language.
