Joanna Trollope

Author profile

born

January 01, 1943 in Cotswolds, The United Kingdom

gender

female

website

http://www.joannatrollope.com/

genre

Literature & Fiction

About this author

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Joanna Trollope (Caroline Harvey) was born in her grandfather's rectory in the Cotswolds in December 1943, and although her actual childhood was spent in the Midlands and in Surrey, she always felt that her real "home" was her birthplace. Joanna says — “It gave me - still gives me - not just a sense of rootedness, but a capacity to value landscape and weather and the rich life of smallish communities. It wouldn't matter where I lived now, I'd always carry that centred feeling of having come from somewhere very well defined with me.” Joanna is the eldest of three, the mother of two daughters and the stepmother of two stepsons — and — now a grandmother. She once saw a car sticker in the States. It read: “If I’d known how wonderful grandchildr...more Joanna Trollope (Caroline Harvey) was born in her grandfather's rectory in the Cotswolds in December 1943, and although her actual childhood was spent in the Midlands and in Surrey, she always felt that her real "home" was her birthplace. Joanna says — “It gave me - still gives me - not just a sense of rootedness, but a capacity to value landscape and weather and the rich life of smallish communities. It wouldn't matter where I lived now, I'd always carry that centred feeling of having come from somewhere very well defined with me.” Joanna is the eldest of three, the mother of two daughters and the stepmother of two stepsons — and — now a grandmother. She once saw a car sticker in the States. It read: “If I’d known how wonderful grandchildren were going to be, I’d have had them first”.

Joanna admits that her school days, in Surrey, were really not a happy time and, in fact, she says that she actually rather dreaded school. She says, “I only started to enjoy education when I got to university. No school can be blamed, however, it was more my childhood and adolescent sense of being an outsider, of not belonging (a very formative sense, I now know, for being a writer) that made me miserable at a time when 99.9% of children long to conform. But, I was very well taught, however, and I think I sensed this, even then.”

After winning a tiny scholarship to Oxford, Joanna went on to a spell in the Foreign Office and then became a teacher. She began writing 'to fill the long spaces after the children had gone to bed' and for many years combined her writing career with working as a teacher. It was in 1980 that Joanna became a full time author but says: “My first novel was written when I was 14, all about myself, of course (it is now kept under lock and key in case my children find it...) I suppose I wrote it for the same reason that I still write - to communicate. I don't think we should ever underestimate the power of story - story is how we negotiate with each other, how we build up relationships, how we learn. And nothing is so fascinating as good narrative - nobody of any age can resist What Happens Next ...”

Joanna Trollope has been writing for over thirty years: she first wrote a number of historical novels now published under Caroline Harvey, then Britannia’s Daughters - a study of women in the British Empire and more recently, her enormously successful contemporary works of fiction, several of which have been televised. The Choir was her first contemporary novel, followed by A Village Affair and A Passionate Man. The Rector's Wife was her first number one bestseller, and made her into a household name. Since then she has written five more contemporary novels: The Men and the Girls, A Spanish Lover, The Best of Friends, Next of Kin, Other People’s Children, Marrying the Mistress, Girl from the South and Brother and Sister. All of these have attracted considerable critical acclaim as well as commercial success. Joanna was appointed the OBE in the 1996 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to literature and joined the Advisory Board of the Costa Awards in 2008, having Chaired the Judging Panel for the 2008 Awards.

All of her life Joanna Trollope has had a huge commitment to people. She says, ‘I mind more and more about people, especially vulnerable and disadvantaged ones.’ She devotes a quite considerable amount of time to supporting six particular charities…. At present she is the Patron of the March Foundation; Patron of for Dementia and Patron of Mulberry Bush. Joanna also supports RNIB — especially the Right to Read Campaign; the Meningitis Trust; Macmillan Nurses, Breast Cancer Care and the Gloucestershire Community Foundation.

When asked to comment on who, or what, has been the greatest influence on her writing — Joanna’s response was: “Simply - just life, I think. At certain stages - I'm sure this is true of everyone - a particular person or book or ide(less)

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Books by Joanna Trollope

Average rating: 3.31 · 8,059 ratings · 1,131 reviews · 53 distinct works

	Rector's Wife 3.60 avg rating — 642 ratings — published 1991 — 16 editions	My rating:
	Marrying the Mistress 3.39 avg rating — 622 ratings — published 2000 — 26 editions	My rating:
	The Other Family 3.07 avg rating — 703 ratings — published 2010 — 17 editions	My rating:
	Other People's Children 3.59 avg rating — 591 ratings — published 1998 — 21 editions	My rating:
	Daughters-in-Law 3.31 avg rating — 597 ratings — published 2011 — 16 editions	My rating:
	Second Honeymoon 3.24 avg rating — 540 ratings — published 2006 — 16 editions	My rating:
	The Choir 3.66 avg rating — 433 ratings — published 1988 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Brother and Sister: A Novel 3.05 avg rating — 496 ratings — published 2004 — 20 editions	My rating:
	Friday Nights 2.88 avg rating — 545 ratings — published 2007 — 16 editions	My rating:
	A Village Affair 3.45 avg rating — 397 ratings — published 1989 — 14 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Joanna Trollope

“William got up and went over to the window. Outside, the autumn fields lay pleasingly striped with stubble and speckled with partridges.”
― Joanna Trollope

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