Kate Morton
Morton at BookExpo America in 2018
Morton at BookExpo America in 2018
BornBerri, South Australia
OccupationAuthor
EducationTrinity College London
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
University of Queensland
GenresGeneral fiction
Years active2006–present
SpouseDavin Patterson
Website
www.katemorton.com

Kate Morton is an Australian author. She is known for her best-selling novels, including The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, and The Distant Hours. Her seventh book, Homecoming, was published in April 2023.

Early life and education

Morton at a book signing in Barcelona, April 2013

Morton is the oldest of three sisters. Her family moved several times before settling on Tamborine Mountain where she attended a small country school. She enjoyed reading books from an early age, her favourites being those by Enid Blyton.[1]

She completed a Licentiate in Speech and in Drama from Trinity College London and then a summer Shakespeare course at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Later she earned first-class honours in English Literature at the University of Queensland (1999) and won a scholarship to complete a master's degree focussing on tragedy in Victorian literature.[2]

Writing career

During her undergraduate studies she wrote two full-length manuscripts (which are unpublished) before writing The House at Riverton (The Shifting Fog), which was published in 2006.

Her first published novel, The House at Riverton, was listed on Richard and Judy's 2007 Summer Read list in the UK, and sold 63,128 copies in its first week. This made Morton the second biggest-selling author in the UK after JK Rowling.[3]

As of October 2015, Morton had sold more than 16 million books in 42 countries, making her one of Australia's "biggest publishing exports".[4]

Novels

  • The House at Riverton (2006; also known as The Shifting Fog) Sunday Times #1 bestseller, New York Times bestseller, Winner - Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year 2007, General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards, and nominated for Most Popular Book at the British Book Awards in 2008. Sainsbury's Popular Fiction Award Best Novel nominee (2008), Nielsen Gold Book Award 2010, Golden Pan Award UK 1,000,000 copies sold, Indie Next Outstanding Debut Winter 2009.
  • The Secret Keeper (2012): Sunday Times bestseller, New York Times bestseller, Spiegel bestseller, El País bestseller, winner of the General Fiction Book of the Year, Australian Book Industry Awards (2013), winner of the Christina Stead Award, Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary Awards (2012), winner of The Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year (2013), finalist of the Best Translated Honkaku Mystery of the Decade (2010-2019).[6]
  • The Lake House (2015): New York Times bestseller,[7] Sunday Times bestseller, #1 bestseller in Australia,[8] #1 bestseller in Canada, Der Spiegel bestseller, El País bestseller.
  • The Clockmaker's Daughter (2018):[9] New York Times bestseller,[10] Sunday Times bestseller, #1 bestseller in Australia, #1 bestseller Canada
  • Homecoming (April 2023)

Personal life

Morton is married to Davin Patterson, a jazz musician and composer. They have three children and live in London.[5][11]

References

  1. ↑ Kate Morton answers readers' questions, retrieved 2 May 2022
  2. ↑ "A Writer's Life - Alumni and Community - The University of Queensland, Australia". www.alumni.uq.edu.au. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Crown, Sarah (27 December 2007). "Richard and Judy unveil their 2008 Book Club". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  4. ↑ "Author Kate Morton cracks sales of 10 million books worldwide". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 Sorensen, Rosemary. "Gothic delight". The Australian. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "2010年代海外本格ミステリ ベスト作品選考座談会" [Best Translated Honkaku Mystery of 2010s]. Giallo (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Kobunsha. 23 July 2021.
  7. ↑ New York Times
  8. ↑ Have you read #TheLakeHouse yet? Allen & Unwin, via Instragram, 5 November 2015
  9. ↑ "The Clockmaker's Daughter". Booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  10. ↑ New York Times
  11. ↑ Kate Morton – Contact Katemorton.com
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