'Tools of thought'

 

“I think that novels are tools ofthought. They are moral philosophy with the theory left out, with just theexamples of the moral situations left standing.” –Jill Paton Walsh

 

Born in England on this date in1937, Paton Walsh (who died in 2020) was a novelist and children's book writer,perhaps best known for her Booker Prize-nominated novel Knowledgeof Angels, and the Peter Wimsey–Harriet Vane mysteries, acontinuation of a series started by master British crime writer Dorothy Sayers.

 

Paton Walsh also earned considerableacclaim for a series featuring college nurse and part-time detective ImogineQuy, set at fictional St. Agatha College in Cambridge.  

 

But, while that is what many adultscite about her work, it probably is her children’s book audience that should beconsulted first, since she penned more than two-dozen highly successful booksfor children and young adults, including the much honored A ChanceChild and Grace.

 

An oft-traveled speaker, Paton Walshstill adhered to “the writer’s life.”  “However much travel one might do, howevermany tours and appearances,” she said, “the job entails solitude: long hours inlibraries and long hours at a desk.”