Nombre legal: Dern, Erolie Pearl Gaddis
Otros nombres: Lindsay, Perry
Courtland, Roberta
Jordan, Gail
Sherman, Joan
Craig, Georgia
Clayford, James (mostrar todos 11)
Tucker, Joan
Erskine, Sylvia
Gordon, Luther
Lee, Carolina
Dern, Peggy
Fecha de nacimiento: 1895-03-05
Fecha de fallecimiento: 1966-06-14
Género: female
Nacionalidad: USA
Lugar de nacimiento: Gaddistown, Georgia, USA
Lugar de fallecimiento: Tucker, Georgia, USA
Ocupaciones: pulp fiction writer
Magazine editor
romance novelist
screenwriter
Biografía breve: |aContemp. auth., new revision ser., v. 6|b(Dern, Erolie Pearl Gaddis, 1895-1966; maiden name: Erolie Pearl Gaddis; b. 3-5-1895; m. John Sherman Dern, 3-13-31; d. 6-14-66; wrote under the names Peggy Gaddis and Peggy Dern and under the pseudonyms: Roberta Courtland, Georgia Craig, Gail Jordan, Carolina Lee, Perry Lindsay, and Joan Sherman). According to Contemporary Authors, her early career revolved around the entertainment business. She had small roles in two short films and is credited as a writer on five films made during the 1920s. She edited trade journals and fan magazines, and wrote prolifically for the romance pulp magazines. For 30 years she wrote traditional romance novels, and also produced "nurse novels" for about the last 10 years. Her novels have been reprinted, some of them several times, under an array of titles and bylines.

Miembros

Reseñas

The Girl Next Door por Peggy Gaddis

The Girl Next Door by Peggy Gaddis is a 2013 Crimson Romance publication.

This book was originally published in 1968. Peggy Dern/Gaddis was a prolific author with a large catalogue of medical romances under her belt. This book is one of her later releases which tended to focus on the timely topic of the Vietnam war and soldiers returning home wounded or disabled.

This is a short story – 171 pages in the 1968 print copy of this novel, the digital version claims only 100 pages. Either way it’s novella length at best. But, in this limited space the author manages to create a real soap opera of a story, filled with self-serving women, willing to use men as a means to an end, with little or no conscience about it. Oy!

Yes, this book was bad in many ways. Two women fighting over the same man- one who was sure she was in love and would never truly love another man- while the other just wanted a man to sponsor her singing career- which made them both look bad.

While this is one of those ‘Dime-store’ novels- and obviously, any book written in 1968 is dated- especially one categorized as romance- there are lessons to be learned from reading it. One is that it’s a ‘time-capsule’ experience. Today, due to intense pressure- authors may write a book set in the past- but they can’t fully capture the reality of it as today’s enlightened reader might not be able to relate- or will be outraged by the actual historical details. But, if you read a book written in a specific time you get the real deal- no modernizing involved- perhaps a bit of exaggeration, but you get a glimpse of the mindset of many, non- counter-culture young women in 1968- (though occasionally Betsy was a bit too square- LOL!)

No formal education was mentioned- not even considered an option- it was marriage or work in a five and dime or department store- with marriage being the favored choice. This might mean settling for someone even if they weren’t your first choice or the person you had feelings for. There was a desperation there that was not healthy. Also, explored, was the way parents tended to shelter their daughters- to the point where, despite their chronological age, they remained emotionally immature.

So, despite the high dramatics, catty women, and aloof heroes, I’m so happy someone had the presence of mind to digitize these books. They aren’t going to get high ratings- especially since few people can get past the datedness- but they do give one insight into small-town 1968 mindsets- the type of books teenage girls might have been reading- which really helps us understand just how far we’ve come in many ways- and gives one perspective so as not to judge this older material too harshly. In their time, these books were probably the equivalent of a ‘Harlequin’ Romance- some better- some worse- but certainly worth preserving as a piece of history, if nothing else. Now, if someone would digitize Dern’s medical romances!!

2.5 stars… (más)

Denunciada

gpangel | Jan 25, 2024 |

LOVING YOU ALWAYS por Peggy Gaddis

Loving You Always by Peggy Dern is a 1967 publication- re-released by Crimson Romance in 2013.

Gerry finds herself widowed at a very young age when her husband Tip is killed in the Vietnam war. Though Tip was the town hero, and she finds herself living in his immense shadow, and under the watchful eye of her controlling mother-in-law, Gerry meets and falls in love with Phil. But not long after Phil proposes marriage, their world is turned upside down when they receive shocking news that Tip is still alive….

Recently, I began a quest to see how many of my old paperbacks and other out of print books were available in digital format. I have a healthy collection of medical romance novels from the forties through the sixties- and Peggy Gaddis/ Dern happened to be one the most prolific writers in that genre. She also wrote regular contemporary romances, and this one falls into that category. Thankfully, Crimson Romance digitized a handful of these older titles and one can find them in a boxed set available in the Kindle store- and as of this writing, are included in the KU program.

This book is quite short, but for it’s time it created a tense dilemma, while also exploring classism to some extent. The book is dated of course, with mindsets and attitudes we’ve long outgrown. But, other than that, the story was very gentle, the men were not the macho type, behaving like adults, and showing respect towards women, even domineering mothers and scheming suitors. Naturally, the book is very chaste, but does deal with adult subject matter. There were some twists that kept the reader on an emotional edge, but of course, there’s a happy ever after for all concerned.

Overall, I’m so happy to see even this small amount of Dern’s books digitized. I’m hoping to see some of her Medical Romances digitized too, someday.… (más)

Denunciada

gpangel | Sep 6, 2023 |

Leota Foreman, R. N. por Peggy Gaddis

Leota Foreman, RN by Peggy Gaddis is a 1957 Arcadia House publication.
Anyone who has read my profile knows I like to collect old paperbacks. These books are probably not worth anything monetarily, but are books that out of print, and ones I find unique and are perhaps a little like finding buried treasure. I’ve discovered some real gems from time to time. However, I rarely find a time in my review schedule to read them. So, due to various circumstances, I have decided to stop adding more books to the collection, at least for the foreseeable future. ( My book collection might make poor little Marie Kondo curl up in a fetal position and suck her thumb) While that little hobby is on hiatus, I am going to stick to the only 2019 New Year’s resolution I made this year, and that is to start reading books in my collection a lot more often.
This is the first book I’ve managed to squeeze in, so far. This is a 1957 medical/nurse story, which are still very popular with collectors. They are long, long, long out of print, however, one can still find copies of them on Ebay and Amazon marketplace, as well as some used bookstores online.
Leota Foreman is an RN living in New York City. After losing a patient and depressed by the cold, bitter NY winter, she makes the spur of the moment decision to take a vacation in Florida. She decides to stop in a small town and soak up some rays and enjoy the scenery. But, right away she bumps into the town doctor who appears to have zero bedside manner. However, there is a very nice man in town who has offered to show her around. He eventually introduces Leota to an elderly lady dying of cancer who now needs more round the clock care. Although Leota left New York to get away from such scenes, as a nurse, she feels she should help if she can.
Little does she know that her life is about to change radically as she becomes embroiled in a messy family situation where high drama ensues. The story here isn’t really all that bad. There are cancer experiments that failed, bringing great guilt and a contested will which inspired a little legal drama. But, all the ‘Insta-love’ was off the charts, and some of it was super creepy, especially by today’s standards. But, at the time this book was written, no one would have thought a thing of it, and probably thought it was romantic. The drama was absolutely over the top with an evil femme fatale and lots of high- handed dialogue. Some cool words like- ‘Zounds’, ‘Golly’, and ‘Jeepers’- were endearingly nostalgic.
This book was price stamped at 50 cents back in 1957 and is 128 pages in length. However, the print is very, very tiny.
An interesting, slightly rare paperback that is probably only interesting to me. However, any other collectors of medical/nurse paperback can find a few of copies available on Amazon, although they look to be reissued- listed as copyright 1962.… (más)

Denunciada

gpangel | Jan 30, 2019 |

The joyous hills por Peggy Gaddis

The Joyous Hills by Peggy Gaddis
Ben picked her up at the train station and she didn't like his choice of cars.
She can't just give up her career when he's ready to retire.
Sally Jardin is at the home to recuperate from everythings that's happened. It's just been too much too fast.
The place is in the country and it takes some time to not only get used to the residents living there but also the animals that come by often.
Dr. Seth Wayne is an aboringine and is Ben's grandfather and his job is to restore the flowers that city folk will just rip out of the ground.
She had talked him into giving free talks to children so he could educate the kids on what and how to pick flowers so they'd not be ruined. She got what she wanted in the long run.
He is a world reknown botantist, reminds me of Grandpa on The Walton's, He had a Masters degree in botany also.… (más)

Denunciada

jbarr5 | Jul 25, 2013 |

Ver Más Reseñas