Erich Schaake: Lieben und Sterben in der Provence. Die Geschichte der Alexandra Cordes. Langen/Müller, 2005, ISBN 978-3-7844-3018-8.
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Alexandra Cordes (real name Ursula Horbach, née Schaake, 16 November 1935 – November 1986) was a prolific German writer of mainly romantic fiction, many of whose books were best-sellers.
Ursula Schaake was born in Bonn, Germany, of Huguenot descent. After finishing school she worked in the Bonn office of the Times newspaper. Afterwards she worked as a journalist for a number of German newspapers, including the "Welt" and the "Hamburger Abendblatt".
In 1958, she married Michael Horbach, a journalist and novelist, who encouraged her to write. She started by writing serials in women's magazines, which were later published in book form. The books sold well, so that by the time of her 59th book she had a turnover of 15 million books sold. This eclipsed the turnover of her husband, who had over four million books sold, over a much longer period.[1]
In the 1970s, the childless couple moved to Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Provence. On the night of 27 October 1986, Michael Horbach shot his wife in the head, killing her, with a revolver from his weapon collection. He shot himself a few hours later and died after a week in intensive care.[1]
