Evelyn Anthony

Evelyn Anthony (born 3 July 1928, London) is the pen name of Evelyn Ward-Thomas (Evelyn Bridgett Patricia Ward-Thomas), a British female writer.

In her youth during the Second World War she was educated largely at home, rather than at school. While she was evacuated to the West Country, her father, Henry Christian Stephens, re-entered the Royal Navy to develop his Dome Trainer, one of the first inventions to cover anti-aircraft gunnery training, later exported all over the world. The new museum in Norfolk to re-create his invention opened on 19 July 2014 and the Journal of her father has been donated to the Imperial War Museum. https://langhamdome.org/

She started writing in 1949, following her marriage. Her pen name comes from Evelyn as a man's profile, as women were often not published during the years after the Second World War, and Saint Anthony, the Catholic patron of Lost Causes. First writing short stories for periodicals, she gained fame and success with her well-researched historical novels, being especially noted for her original treatment of Anne Boleyn - a historical character dealt with by numerous other writers. Two of them became US Literary Guild Choices. Her historical novels "Far Flies The Eagle" and "Valentina" were both set during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The later novels had a theme of espionage.

Later, Anthony switched to writing contemporary thrillers and spy novels, featuring strong female leads such as Davina Graham (Head of British spy services) with well-developed characterisation of protagonists and twist endings, which her readers came to expect. Her 1971 The Tamarind Seed was adapted for film in 1974, starring Julie Andrews as Judith Farrow, a British Home Office functionary and Omar Sharif as Feodor, a Soviet air attaché- lovers involved in Cold War intrigue. She adapted well to the end of the Cold War and continued writing thrillers set in the post-1990 reality.

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