Blythe [Brown] was the research expert behind some of the most colourful and intriguing themes in the work, which involves a search for the Holy Grail via clues hidden in Leonardo da Vinci's paintings.

Hitherto barely heralded, the older, more glamorous half of the Browns is emerging as, if not the 'real brains' behind The Da Vinci Code, then certainly a creative energy as indispensable to her husband as the Mona Lisa herself.

The reclusive and childless New Hampshire couple are a formidable literary team. Blythe, 53, the 'silent partner', has been her husband's artistic lodestar ever since they formed a relationship in Los Angeles 16 years ago. She is cited by Brown, 41, as his 'inspiration'.

As I've been doing my own research on Dan Brown for his Wikipedia biography, I'd already come to the same conclusion -- that his wife, Blythe, was one of the driving forces behind his success. After they met, she introduced him to the right people, wrote press releases, and did a lot of the books' promotion. She's not the sole reason for his success (even with her help, Brown's first CDs and books had only mediocre sales, until The Da Vinci Code went to #1 in its first week), so there's still other ingredients required in the bestseller recipe. But I'm glad that the mainstream press is catching up with this, because I think that Blythe *should* get credit, where credit is due.

Elonka :)

How Dan Brown's wife unlocked the code to bestseller success