Vale Valerie Parv, the Australian author who sold 34 million books

Valerie Parv published more than 70 novels and sold more than 34 million books, but because she wrote romances few Australian readers are familiar with her name, writes Jodi McAlister.

She published more than 70 novels and sold more than 34 million books translated into 29 languages, making her one of Australia’s most successful and prolific authors. Yet many are not familiar with her name. 

Valerie Parv passed away suddenly last weekend, a week before her 70th birthday. She began as an advertising copywriter, and her first books, non-fiction home and garden DIY guides, were published in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, she began to publish in the genre she was most well-known for: romance fiction.

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