Penny Vincenzi was a highly respected and popular British author, known for her contemporary fiction and romance novels. She was born on April 10, 1939, and over the course of her career, sold over seven million copies of her books worldwide. She was widely regarded as the doyenne of the modern blockbuster in the UK.
Vincenzi's interest in writing began at a young age. At nine years old, she started writing her own magazine called "Stories," which she manually copied out three times on carbon paper and sold for two pence at school. This early start in writing foreshadowed a successful career that would see her sell seven million copies and publish 17 bestselling novels. Before becoming a published author, Vincenzi worked as a junior secretary at Vogue and Tatler magazines, and later as a personal assistant to Marje Proops, Britain's legendary agony aunt at the Daily Mirror. It was Marje who encouraged Vincenzi to write, leading her to become a fashion editor and beauty writer at the Mirror. Vincenzi's journalistic career spanned several decades, during which she worked for many of the leading newspapers and magazines of the time.
Vincenzi's break into novel writing came when she interviewed bestselling British author Jilly Cooper for a magazine profile. During the interview, Vincenzi asked Cooper for advice on writing a novel, and Cooper put her in touch with her own agent. The agent auctioned off Vincenzi's (then unwritten) first novel, which was quickly snapped up, marking the beginning of her successful career as a novelist. Vincenzi was the proud and much-loved mother of four daughters and grandmother to nine grandchildren. She passed away in 2018.