No love lost for Cartland

QUESTION Was novelist Dame Barbara Cartland accused of plagiarism?

DAME Barbara Cartland, the queen of the romantic novel, faced allegations of plagiarism from Georgette Heyer, the doyenne of the Regency romance.

Heyer, noted for her meticulous research, wrote 56 novels that sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.

The accusation surfaced in Jennifer Kloester’s 2011 biography of Heyer. Having been given full access to the author’s archives, she discovered how, in May 1950, a reader wrote to Heyer suggesting Cartland was ‘immersing herself in some of your books and making good use of them’.

Heyer spent what she described as a ‘revolting’ week reading and comparing the ‘quite awful’ Saga Of Hearts trilogy: A Hazard Of Hearts, A Duel Of Hearts and The Knave Of Hearts. She was particularly concerned over the similarity of plot in The Knave Of Hearts and her break-out novel These Old Shades.

She wrote a series of furious letters to her literary agent stating she ‘would rather by far that a common thief broke in and stole all the silver’.

Summing up, she said: ‘I think I could have borne it better had Miss Cartland not been so common-minded, so salacious and so illiterate.’

Heyer’s solicitor issued a formal letter of protest. The Knave Of Hearts was re-issued under a new title, The Innocent Heiress, with the sub-heading: ‘In The Tradition Of Georgette Heyer.’

Despite her anger, it was absurd for Heyer to describe Cartland as ‘illiterate’. After all, she wrote 723 books with worldwide sales of more than one billion. Her son, Ian McCorquodale, described her as ‘a woman of extraordinary discipline behind that remarkable success’.

Caroline Wilson, Bath.

QUESTION Why do so many men have large stomachs, even those who are not generally fat?

THE sex differences in body composition are well established. Women have a higher body fat percentage and men have a higher muscle mass percentage.

Importantly, the differences between the two sexes extend to fat distribution in different parts of the body. Women tend to store fat in their arms, thighs and buttocks; for men, the default storage area is the belly or abdomen.

The trouble with a big belly is that it’s not limited to subcutaneous fat — the extra layer of padding just below the skin. It also includes visceral fat, which is stored within the abdominal cavity and accumulates around the liver, pancreas and intestines.

Visceral fat is packed in tightly and, as it builds up, pushes the abdominal wall outward, forming the characteristically hard pot or beer belly.

This excessive accumulation of abdominal visceral fat is technically known as android obesity. Once the belly space is full, fat starts to accumulate in other parts of the body.

Dietary studies suggest visceral fat is significantly worse for your health than subcutaneous fat. It increases the risk for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and erectile dysfunction.

Though often called a beer belly, it isn’t specifically caused by drinking too many pints, but by taking in too many calories.

Juliette Atkinson RN, Purley, Surrey.

QUESTION Does the hospital administrative position of almoner still exist?

THE almoner was an early form of social worker attached to a hospital. It’s an old word describing a person who gives alms to the poor. While many of the duties still exist, the title disappeared in the 1960s.

In Victorian times, those who could afford a private doctor stayed away from hospitals. Workhouse infirmaries and voluntary hospitals were charitable institutions founded and funded by the middle and upper classes to provide free healthcare for the working class.

Patients would receive good treatment but, as soon as their symptoms were relieved, they would return to their poverty-stricken homes.

As cold and poor sanitary conditions were often the underlying cause of health problems, it was recognised that treatment could be made more effective by improving the environment of convalescent patients.

From the 1890s, hospitals began to appoint lady almoners to organise aftercare for patients, including stays in convalescent homes, medical equipment and adequate nutrition.

A key but uncomfortable role for the almoners was to identify patients in a position to make a financial contribution towards their treatment.

Mary Stewart was the first lady almoner, appointed to London’s Royal Free Hospital in 1895. She had worked for the Victorian Charity Organisation Society providing material and moral improvement of the poor.

In 1903, the Almoners’ Committee was formed. It became the Hospital Almoners’ Association in 1927 and the Institute of Almoners in 1945.

The introduction of the NHS in 1948 was a boon and threat to almoners.

The abolition of charges for hospital care meant they were liberated from the financial aspects of administration, but the creation of posts related to public health, such as health visitors, caused an overlap in duties.

The title of almoner fell out of favour. The Institute of Almoners changed its name to the Institute of Medical Social Workers in 1964.

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