West, Eugenia Lovett 1923-

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West, Eugenia Lovett 1923-

PERSONAL:

Born February 20, 1923, in Boston, MA; daughter of Sidney (a minister and teacher) and Esther (an artist) Lovett; married Eric F. West (a business executive), September 20, 1944; children: Eugenia, George, Eric F., Jr., Victoria. Education: Attended Sarah Lawrence College, 1940-42. Politics: Independent. Religion: United Church of Christ.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Lyme, CT; NH.

CAREER:

Writer, 1967—. Previously worked for Harper's Bazaar, American Red Cross, and as a freelance reporter; volunteer worker.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Ancestors Cry Out, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1979.

Stripped, Xlibris Corp. (Philadelphia, PA), 2004.

Without Warning, St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to local newspapers. Editor of Playhouse Square Gazette, 1973-74.

SIDELIGHTS:

Eugenia Lovett West was born February 20, 1923, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was educated at Sarah Lawrence College from 1940 until 1942, then went on to work a number of jobs, first for Harper's Bazaar magazine and later for the American Red Cross. After marrying Eric F. West in 1944, she spent some time volunteering and raising a family, but in the late 1960s turned to writing, an interest she had long put aside. She worked briefly as a freelance reporter but eventually turned her attention to writing novels. Her first book, a work of historical suspense titled The Ancestors Cry Out, was published in 1979.

In 2007, West published Without Warning, intended as the first in a new series of mystery novels about Emma Streat, a former opera star and society wife who begins solving mysteries when her husband Lewis, the CEO of a defense company, dies in a suspicious manner. In the days leading up to his death, while the couple was traveling in London, Lewis had been moody and uncommunicative, merely telling Emma that his new weapons project was giving him some trouble. After his death, she decides to go back to London and ask around, and soon discovers Lewis's was not the only accident of questionable cause. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked that "West spins a plausible tale, and flawed, grieving Emma makes an appealing heroine." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews found some of the mystery somewhat tepid, but concluded that West "has a nice way with the material accouterments of the privileged on both sides of the Atlantic."

West wrote for Library Journal: "My aim as I wrote The Ancestors Cry Out was solely to entertain. So often, after a tiring day, or when starting a trip, I really long for a book with suspense, an interesting background, and appealing characters. But this type of story should, in my opinion, do more than provide a few hours of escape reading. Georgette Heyer, for example, gave us a vivid picture of Regency clothes, manners, wit. I believe that there is a need today, as there always has been, for the well-written book that adds to a reader's general knowledge in a light-hearted way."