Julie Elizabeth Garwood (née Murphy; December 26, 1944 – June 8, 2023) was an American writer of over twenty-seven romance novels in both the historical and suspense subgenres. Over thirty-five million copies of her books are in print, and she had at least 24 New York Times Bestsellers.^[1] She also wrote a novel for young adults called A Girl Named Summer.

Garwood's novel For the Roses was adapted for the television feature Rose Hill.^[2]

Biography

Julie Garwood born Julia Elizabeth Murphy^[3] and was raised in Kansas City, Missouri, the sixth of seven children in a large Irish family.^[2] She was the daughter of Felicita “Flip” Murphy, née Kennedy and Thomas Murphy^[4] and had five sisters: Sharon, Kathleen, Marilyn, Mary Colette "Cookie", and Joanne, and one brother: Tom. After having a tonsillectomy at age six, because she missed so much school, she did not learn to read as the other children her age did. She was eleven before her mother realized Garwood was unable to read. A math teacher, Sister Elizabeth, devoted the entire summer that year to teaching Garwood how to read, and how to enjoy the stories she was reading. This teacher had such an impact on Garwood's life that she named her daughter Elizabeth.^[1][5]

While studying to be a registered nurse, Garwood took a Russian history course and became intrigued by history, choosing to pursue a double major in history and nursing. A professor, impressed by the quality of her essays, convinced Garwood to write. The result was a children's book, A Girl Named Summer, and her first historical novel, Gentle Warrior.^[5]

Garwood married young and had three children: Gerry, Bryan, and Elizabeth. The family resided in Leawood, Kansas. Although Garwood enjoyed her writing, she was not intending to pursue a career as an author. As a young wife and mother she took several freelance writing jobs, and wrote longer stories to amuse herself. After her youngest child started school, Garwood began attending local writers' conferences, where she soon met an agent. The agent sold both her children's book and her historical novel, and soon the publisher requested more historical romances.^[2]

Garwood's novels are particularly known for the quirkiness of her heroines, who tend to have an ability to get lost anywhere, clumsiness, and a "charming ability to obfuscate and change the direction of conversations to the consternation, frustration, but eventual acceptance of the other party."^[5] She was not afraid to tackle difficult issues, and one of her books deals with spousal abuse.

Despite her success in the historical romance genre, Garwood ventured into a new genre and began writing contemporary romantic suspense novels. Like her historicals, these contemporaries still focus on family relationships, whether between blood relatives or groups of friends who have styled themselves as a family.^[1]

Her first contemporary offering, Heartbreaker, was optioned for film and was serialized in Cosmopolitan.

Garwood died at her home in Kansas on June 8, 2023, at the age of 78.^[6]