AJ Pearce
BornAmanda-Jane Pearce
1964 (age 58–59)
OccupationWriter
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
GenreHistorical fiction
Website
ajpearce.com

Amanda-Jane Pearce (born 1964) is an English author. She is known for her Sunday Times Bestselling historical fiction series The Emmy Lake Chronicles, beginning with Dear Mrs Bird in 2018.

Life and career

Pearce is from Hampshire. She attended secondary school in Basingstoke.[1] She went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies and History from the University of Sussex. She studied abroad in the United States at Northwestern University in Illinois. She worked in entertainment marketing and publishing for an engineering magazine before going into writing, a hobby she enjoyed as a child and rediscovered in 2005. She honed her creative writing skills through classes with the Arvon Foundation.[2][3]

Pearce was inspired to write Dear Mrs Bird by a women's magazine from 1939 she stumbled upon back in 2011. She began collecting wartime magazines to form the premise of her World War II London-set novel.[4] Following a bidding auction, Pearce landed a two-book publishing deal with Picador in 2016 with potential for more. Scribner won the U.S. side of the deal.[5][6] In advance of Dear Mrs Bird's release date, 42 optioned the novel for television.[7]

Dear Mrs Bird was published in April 2018 and became a Sunday Times Bestseller. It was shortlisted at the 2019 British Book Awards and for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize.[8] Its sequel, Yours Cheerfully, followed in summer 2021. It was also a Times Bestseller.[9] In an interview with My Weekly, Pearce discussed her plans for the series to follow the lead character Emmy through the war.[10]

Bibliography

The Emmy Lake Chronicles

  • Dear Mrs Bird (2018)
  • Yours Cheerfully (2021)
  • Mrs Porter Calling (2023)

References

  1. ↑ "AJ Pearce". Sue Leonard. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Dear Mrs. Bird (Pearce) - Author Bio". Lit Lovers. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Roins, Anna (1 October 2019). "Pearce's Dear Mrs Bird shows power of friendship". AuthorLink. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  4. ↑ Conroy, Catherine (28 April 2018). "Bridget Jones of the Blitz: AJ Pearce's happy war story". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  5. ↑ Cowdry, Katherine (7 October 2016). "Picador wins Dear Mrs Bird in seven-way auction". The Bookseller. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  6. ↑ O'Keeffe, Alice (23 January 2018). "A J Pearce: 'It's about ordinary young women in the most extraordinary time'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "AJ Pearce's Dear Mrs Bird optioned for television". Pan Macmillan. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Guest, Katy (18 April 2018). "Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce review – a winning wartime romp". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  9. ↑ AJ Pearce (3 July 2021). "Absolutely thrilled!!! #YoursCheerfully #top5". Retrieved 6 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ Gill, Claire (24 June 2021). "Q&A With AJ Pearce, Author Of Yours Cheerfully". My Weekly. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
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