Fay Weldon Books In Order

Publication Order of She Devil Books

Publication Order of Love & Inheritance Trilogy Books

Publication Order of Spoils of War Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Chapbooks

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Fay Weldon is a prominent English author, playwright, and essayist, who is known for her work based on feminism. She is famous for writing women’s fiction, contemporary, and literature & fiction stories and is particularly well known for creating the Love & Inheritance series, Spoils of War series, and the She Devil series. Additionally, Weldon has written numerous standalone books, essay and short story collections, novellas, and nonfiction books in her career. She has collaborated with many other authors, including Amanda Craig, Deborah Moggach, Rose Tremain, John Updike, Amy Bloom, Lesley Pearse, John Cheever, Andrea Lee, Isabel Wolff, etc. Usually, Weldon’s works portray contemporary women who are caught in oppressive situations because of the British Society’s patriarchal structure.

Author Weldon was born as Franklin Birkinshaw on September 22, 1931, in Birmingham, England. Her family was full of novelists and so, she had a literary environment while growing up. Weldon was brought up in Christchurch, New Zealand as her father was employed there as a doctor. Following the divorce of her parents when she was six years old, she and her sister lived with her father in Coromandel and Auckland. Weldon studied at the Girls’ High School in Christchurch for a couple of years. At the age of 15, she moved back to England to live with her mother. Weldon says that she had no intention of becoming a writer at that time as her mind mostly occupied by the idea of getting married and having babies. While in England, she won a scholarship to study at the South Hampstead School. Later, Weldon studied at St Andrews University in Scotland and obtained a degree in psychology.

In 1952, Weldon finished her masters and returned to London. Thereafter, she worked at the Foreign Office on the post of a clerk for some time. Before that, she had worked temporarily as a hospital ward and a waitress. Weldon had to quit her clerical job due to her pregnancy. Following the birth of her son Nicolas, she joined the Crawford’s Advertising Agency and worked alongside author Elizabeth Smart. Weldon started writing for TV and radio in 1963. Her first novel came out in 1967. Weldon thought that her novel was accepted by the publisher because of her excellent writing, but the real reason was that Weldon had learned to not have her work turned down. Subsequently, Weldon went on to have a prolific and successful writing career, publishing more than 30 novels, several collections of short stories, articles for magazines and newspapers, TV films, etc. She even succeeded in becoming a popular voice and face on the BBC.

In 1971, Weldon won a Writers Guild award for writing the first episode of the famous TV series called Upstairs, Downstairs. Afterward, she collaborated with several noteworthy directors and producers of TV and films. In 1966, Weldon served as a member of the Berlin International Film Festival. She was included as a judge for the Booker Prize in 1983. In 2006, Brunel University appointed her as a Creative Writing professor to provide an opportunity for its students to learn from the great writer. Bath Spa University also appointed her on the same post in 2012, where she shared an office with Maggie Gee. Weldon likes to describe herself as a self-declared feminist. Her works often feature women who are overlooked by society and the media. Weldon has given many reasons to side with feminism, including the lack of equal chances for women and the belief that women could not thrive on their own without the support of their male relatives. In 1953, Weldon had become pregnant out of an affair with a musician while working for Foreign Office. She wanted to keep the child, but not the father.

After four years of struggling as a single mom, she married a headmaster named Ronald Bateman, who was 25 years elder to her. They resided for a couple of years in Acton, London before their marriage came to an end. In 1961, Weldon came across a jazz musician Ron Weldon and got married to him in 1963 after becoming pregnant. Ron and Weldon became parents of 2 more sons before going for their separation. Currently, Weldon is happily married to her third husband Nick Fox. They live in Dorset. The highlight of her career is when she was bestowed with the CBE and FRSL as well as made a Church of England member in the early 2000s.

A popular series written by author Fay Weldon is known as the Love & Inheritance Trilogy series. It was started in 2012 and its last book was published in 2013. The debut book of this series is entitled ‘Habits of the House’. It was released by St Martin’s Press in 2012. Weldon has depicted the main characters in this novel in the roles of Minnie O’Brien, Robert Hedleigh, Anthony Robin, Isobel Hedleigh, Arthur, Earl of Dilberne, etc. The book opens by depicting that the year 1899 is about to come to an end and Dilberne’s Earl has landed in serious financial trouble. This problem begins to affect all the members of the household. Among those most affected include Lord Robert, Arthur, Rosina, Isobel, and Grace. As no financial relief seems to be coming their way, Lord Robert shifts his focus towards finding a suitable wife with a huge dowry for his son. Subsequently, Minnie O’Brien arrives in London from Chicago and brings relief to all the problems of Lord Robert’s household. She not only proves to be a good daughter-in-law and wife, but also brings a lot of wealth along with her with which all the mortgages of the household get paid off.

The second book of this series is called ‘Long Live the King’. It was also published by St Martin publication in 2013. The central characters depicted in this book other than those mentioned in the previous book include King Edward VII, Adela Hedleigh, Consuelo Vanderbilt, Frank Overshaw, Eric Baum, Naomi Baum, etc. This novel begins at the end of the year 1901 and shows that the Dilberne household has had a great year. Their fortune got restored, Dilberne Court got saved, Arthur found a perfect partner in the form of a Chicago heiress Minnie O’Brien, and Minnie has become pregnant. As Lady Isobel and Lord Robert become busy with the preparations of Edward VII’s coronation, they have a long discussion on the future of Adela, their recently orphaned niece. Minnie and Isobel want to keep her with them, but Arthur and Robert do not want that. As all four of them argue over this matter, Adela decides to run away and join a spiritualist group only to be found and saved by the king.