I've looked for a thread concerning the (our world) identity of Daphne Farquitt and haven't been able to find it. I must say, my first thought when reading about her books was that she was a stand-in for Barbara Cartland. What do you think? A possible alternative would be Danielle Steel, though she's American, isn't she?...

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Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless? (JRRT)

I didn't think Daphne Farquitt was a real person, but I entirely understand the kind of person she is. One of those authors usually spotted on the bargain book bin near the supermarket check-out line, pretending to be popular, known by all but read by none. I don't know if she's supposed to be a parody of any real person... I don't know who Barbara Cartland is, though I am fleetingly familiar with Danielle Steel (yes, she's American) and her intoxicatingly female prose. I can understand why someone with an imagination like Jasper Fforde's could feel negatively about her. People like that (Farquitt / Steel / Cartland) are always so much in love with their own mythology.

And the same can be said for Christopher Paolini, while I'm at it. What a self-important little dork.

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Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die. -Mel Brooks

Danielle Steel is mentioned in the last chapter included only in the American edition of "The Well of Lost Plots."

Or perhaps Anne Rice? That's the sort of thing I think of, if perhaps a little less obscenely obviously flowery literary pornography...