Linda Newbery

Linda Newbery is a British author, who began writing as a young adult author but has now broadened her range to encompass all ages. Now a full-time writer, she published her first novel "Run with the Hare" in 1988, while still working as an English teacher in a comprehensive school.

Linda is a regular tutor for the [http://www.arvonfoundation.org Arvon Foundation] and is a member of the Society of Authors and the Scattered Authors' Society.

Writing

Several of her novels have historical settings. Her Shouting Wind trilogy follows the women of one family through three generations; "The Shouting Wind" tells the story of Kay, a WAAF in the Second World War, "The Cliff Path" follows her hippie daughter Abigail, and "A Fear of Heights" completes the trilogy with the life of Abigail's own daughter Tamsin, an engineering student in the 1980s.

"The Shell House" links two stories, one set in the present, the other during the First World War, through the setting of a now-ruined house in Epping Forest (based on Copped Hall). Greg, in the present-day story, is horrified to find himself strongly attracted to another boy. In the past, Edmund Pearson, son of the wealthy Pearson family, is looked upon to supply a son and heir, but is secretly in love with another officer, Alex. The two stories are also linked through questions of faith, belief and doubt.

"Sisterland" also links past and present through the story of Sarah Reubens, a Kindertransport refugee to Northampton, who conceals her Jewish identity. In the present-day story, her granddaughter Hilly slowly realises the truth about "Heidigran's" past, and its implications for her own identity.

"Set in Stone" is a Gothic mystery in the tradition of Wilkie Collins and the Victorian sensation novel. Set in an Arts and Crafts house on the South Downs, it partly concerns the disappearance of one of four stone-carvings, the West Wind, and the secrets hidden beneath the house's immaculate surfaces.

Although Linda Newbery is probably best known for her young adult novels, she also writes for younger readers. For children of about 10+, her novels include "At the Firefly Gate", "Lost Boy", "Catcall" and "Nevermore", all published by Orion. For Usborne Publishing she has written "Polly's March" and "Andie's Moon", part of the Historical House series for which she collaborated with Adele Geras and Ann Turnbull. She has also published a number of short stories and poems.

Linda Newbery has twice been shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, for "The Shell House" (2002) and "Sisterland" (2003); several of her other novels have been nominated. "The Shell House" was also shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2002. She won the Costa Children's Book of the Year prize for 2006 (formerly the Whitbread Prize) with her young adult novel "Set in Stone", and "Catcall" was Silver Medal winner in the 2007 Nestlé Children's Book Prize.

She was a judge for the Whitbread Book Awards (now the Costa Book Awards) in 2005, and for the Guardian Children's Book Prize in 2007, and has reviewed fiction for the Times Educational Supplement, The Guardian and other publications.

External links

* [http://www.lindanewbery.co.uk/index.html Linda Newbery's website]