Belva Plain (1915-2010) Author. Plain’s first novel, Evergreen (1978) topped the New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks and was made into a television miniseries. At her death, there were over 30 million copies of her twenty-plus novels in print in 22 languages. Her book, Legacy of Silence, Delacorte Press, 1998, first edition, signed on the title page. The book and dust jacket are as new.