Jacqueline Briskin (1927–2014)
Author of The Naked Heart
About the Author
Jacqueline Briskin was born Jacqueline Orgell on December 18, 1927 in London, England. She enrolled at UCLA in pre-law, but quit after two years to marry Bert Briskin. In 1964, she took a night class at UCLA Extension called The Craft of Fiction. Her first novel, California Generation, was show more published in 1970. Her other novels include Too Much Too Soon, Everything and More, Rich Friends, Paloverde, and The Onyx. She also wrote two novels using the pen name Diane Du Pont. She retired in the mid-1990s to take care of her husband, who was in declining health because of Alzheimer's disease. He died in 2004. She died on December 24, 2014 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Jacqueline Briskin
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Briskin, Jacqueline
- Legal name
- Orgell Briskin, Jacqueline
- Other names
- Briskin, Jacqueline
- Birthdate
- 1927-12-18
- Date of death
- 2014-12-24
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK (birth)
USA (naturalized|1944) - Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Place of death
- Santa Monica, California, USA
- Places of residence
- Bel Air, California, USA
Beverly Hills, California, USA - Education
- Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills, California, USA (1945)
- Occupations
- historical novelist
- Relationships
- Briskin, Bert (husband)
Sands, Richard (son) - Agent
- Bert Briskin
- Short biography
- Jacqueline Orgell was born on 18 December 1927 in London, England, the daughter of Marjorie (Mendelsohn) and Spencer Orgell. In 1938, her family moved to United States, and she naturalized in 1944. She attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California and graduated in 1945.
On 9 May 1948, she married Bertram Norman "Bert" Briskin, borned on 17 February 1922. Her husband was an oil executive, who years later became his agent. They had three children: Ralph Louis Briskin, Elizabeth Ann Briskin, and Richard Paul Briskin (alias Richard Sands). Her husband died of Alzheimer on 16 July 2004.
She sold her first novel in 1970, after which she published other 11 historical novels. Her novels were translated into 26 languages, and has sold 23,000,000 copies worldwide. Her books regularly appear on the New York Times bestseller's list, and she was a main Selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club seven times.
Members
Reviews
The 1970s vintage romance novels generally follow a typical pattern– an attractive, intelligent, somewhat innocent young woman has an uncontrollable adventurous streak and a penchant for non-conformity. She inevitably falls in love with a man who is not acceptable for social, cultural, or economic reasons. He may be from the wrong side of the tracks, is of a conflicting religion, of a different race, or has incompatible moral standards. Sometimes there are additional themes and if it’s a historical novel, it may include a considerable amount of facts and details about the era in which the story takes place.
"Paloverde" was published in 1978 and fits this mold perfectly. Additionally, just the fact that "Paloverde" was written 40 years ago lends a historic slant to the narration. It is the story of the prestigious Van Vliet family. The young attractive women in this particular novel are Amelie Deane and her daughter Tessa. The story takes place in 3 parts over a period of 40 years.
Part 1 is titled ‘The Railroad- 1884’. The opening scene at Amelie’s father’s funeral in Los Angeles sets the stage for all the events that follow. Amelie’s father was an executive at the Southern Pacific Railroad which at the time is the fastest growing business in the United States. The plot follows the story of both Van Vliet sons falling in love with Amelie. There are plenty of interesting details covering the growth and development of Southern California, which in the late 1800s is little more than a collection of small villages growing throughout the wilderness.
Part 2, ‘Oil- 1891’ brings a whole new industry to Southern California. The Van Vliet brothers discover oil in a tract of land near Los Angeles and lead the way in creating commercial uses for this new commodity.
Finally, ‘The Movies- 1917’, originally called “motion pictures” because they were silent films with sub-titles, provides an up-close and personal view of the birth of Hollywood. By this time the Van Vliet brothers have become older and the young Van Vliet cousins take their place as the central characters. Kingdon Vance, aka Kingdon Van Vliet becomes an ace pilot in World War I. He takes his show to Hollywood and becomes a national movie idol.
"Paloverde" offers a suspenseful plot including love, war, murder, rape, and adultery. But beware however, as you may find segments of the plot are somewhat repulsive- especially in today’s “politically correct” environment.… (more)
"Paloverde" was published in 1978 and fits this mold perfectly. Additionally, just the fact that "Paloverde" was written 40 years ago lends a historic slant to the narration. It is the story of the prestigious Van Vliet family. The young attractive women in this particular novel are Amelie Deane and her daughter Tessa. The story takes place in 3 parts over a period of 40 years.
Part 1 is titled ‘The Railroad- 1884’. The opening scene at Amelie’s father’s funeral in Los Angeles sets the stage for all the events that follow. Amelie’s father was an executive at the Southern Pacific Railroad which at the time is the fastest growing business in the United States. The plot follows the story of both Van Vliet sons falling in love with Amelie. There are plenty of interesting details covering the growth and development of Southern California, which in the late 1800s is little more than a collection of small villages growing throughout the wilderness.
Part 2, ‘Oil- 1891’ brings a whole new industry to Southern California. The Van Vliet brothers discover oil in a tract of land near Los Angeles and lead the way in creating commercial uses for this new commodity.
Finally, ‘The Movies- 1917’, originally called “motion pictures” because they were silent films with sub-titles, provides an up-close and personal view of the birth of Hollywood. By this time the Van Vliet brothers have become older and the young Van Vliet cousins take their place as the central characters. Kingdon Vance, aka Kingdon Van Vliet becomes an ace pilot in World War I. He takes his show to Hollywood and becomes a national movie idol.
"Paloverde" offers a suspenseful plot including love, war, murder, rape, and adultery. But beware however, as you may find segments of the plot are somewhat repulsive- especially in today’s “politically correct” environment.… (more)
"The Onyx" is Briskin’s typical fare... essentially a maudlin love story incorporated into a complex three-generation saga taking the reader from 1894 to a grand conclusion in 1947. Focusing on the inception of the automobile- then called the horseless road carriage- and the astronomical growth of Detroit’s burgeoning auto industry, the reader is transported from the poor young inventor’s shack where he developed the first gas engine to his multi-million dollar industrialized assembly line factory.
Though totally fiction, using an imaginary auto company called Onyx, Briskin incorporates a lot of factual history relative to the development of the automobile, the difficulty in building a prototype, intolerable conditions in the factories, the catastrophic consequences of the Depression, and the famous sit-down strike during the Depression which gave birth to the United Auto Workers Union and their first big demands.
Published in 1982, Briskin’s historically-based tale recalls many of the social and cultural issues of prior eras: the social barriers between the wealthy and the working class, anti-semitism, and the stigma of having children out of wedlock. The common solution to that problem was often to pass the child off to a hastily acquired unsuspecting husband… though not necessarily the case in this particular story.
One distinct feature about "The Onyx" is the demonstration through strong characterization of just how much some people were willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals. The price was often painfully high. The protagonist, founder of Onyx, was hard working, dedicated, strong willed, persevering, stubborn and uncompromising. Some of those traits were his greatest strength, but also his most profound weakness.
And on the humorous side- as the story progresses- the reader gets a litany of words used to describe a plethora of promiscuous women: chippies, dishes, floozies, girlies, and sweet babies.
"The Onyx" is voluminous in size and ponderous in content. It’s no wonder one reviewer referred to "The Onyx" as a soap-opera. Briskin offers intense drama and a poignant, somewhat fantastical, plot drenched in sentimentality which incorporates webs of love affairs, unrequited love, deceit and lies, uncontrollable tempers, and a quest for vengeance. Read it and enjoy the weep.… (more)
Though totally fiction, using an imaginary auto company called Onyx, Briskin incorporates a lot of factual history relative to the development of the automobile, the difficulty in building a prototype, intolerable conditions in the factories, the catastrophic consequences of the Depression, and the famous sit-down strike during the Depression which gave birth to the United Auto Workers Union and their first big demands.
Published in 1982, Briskin’s historically-based tale recalls many of the social and cultural issues of prior eras: the social barriers between the wealthy and the working class, anti-semitism, and the stigma of having children out of wedlock. The common solution to that problem was often to pass the child off to a hastily acquired unsuspecting husband… though not necessarily the case in this particular story.
One distinct feature about "The Onyx" is the demonstration through strong characterization of just how much some people were willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals. The price was often painfully high. The protagonist, founder of Onyx, was hard working, dedicated, strong willed, persevering, stubborn and uncompromising. Some of those traits were his greatest strength, but also his most profound weakness.
And on the humorous side- as the story progresses- the reader gets a litany of words used to describe a plethora of promiscuous women: chippies, dishes, floozies, girlies, and sweet babies.
"The Onyx" is voluminous in size and ponderous in content. It’s no wonder one reviewer referred to "The Onyx" as a soap-opera. Briskin offers intense drama and a poignant, somewhat fantastical, plot drenched in sentimentality which incorporates webs of love affairs, unrequited love, deceit and lies, uncontrollable tempers, and a quest for vengeance. Read it and enjoy the weep.… (more)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 35
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 890
- Popularity
- #28,791
- Rating
- 3.2
- Reviews
- 15
- ISBNs
- 251
- Languages
- 12
A saga romântica de três mulheres privilegiadas, seu glamouroso e violento destino.
Marylin- Com sua deslumbrante beleza, ela nasceu para ser uma estrela. Mesmo adorada, sente-se amargurada e profundamente infeliz.
Roy- Tem o vigor e o talento necessários para obter sucesso na moda. Sente especial atração por homens errados.
Althea- Seu passado é impublicável. Sua ambição não conhece qualquer moral.
Abrangendo o período da depressão até hoje, movendo-se dos meios do cinema e da moda em Los Angeles para o esplendor de Manhattan, México, Roma, Paris e Londres. Tudo e muito mais é uma história emocionante que fala do amor além da morte; da febre inquieta das paixões ilícitas; da competição erótica conduzindo ao desastre.… (more)