Pam Jenoff is an American author, lawyer, and professor of law at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. She writes love stories and historical novels, some of which have been nominated for awards and many of which have been bestsellers. She is still writing and lives with her three children and husband in New Jersey.

Biography

A resident of

Haddonfield, New Jersey Haddonfield is a borough (New Jersey), borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,550, an increase of 957 (+8.3%) from the ...

, Jenoff grew up in Evesham Township, where she attended Cherokee High School. Her mother "grew up in South Philadelphia in the 1940s"; "my dad’s family is from Atlantic City and my grandparents and great grandparents owned hotels and restaurants there in the 1930s and 40s." Her bachelor's degree is from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

and her M.A. (in history) is from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Her J.D. degree is from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

. A former special assistant to the secretary of the Army and a State Department officer, she lives in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and teaches

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

employment law Labour laws (also spelled as labor laws), labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship be ...

, and

legal writing Legal writing involves the analysis of fact patterns and presentation of arguments in documents such as legal memoranda and Brief (law), briefs. One form of legal writing involves drafting a balanced analysis of a legal problem or issue. Another ...

at the Camden campus of

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

. She had just begun practicing law at a private firm when the

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

attacks spurred her to pursue a personal goal of becoming a writer.

Books

''The Kommandant's Girl'' (2007) was nominated for a

Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years, from 2005 to 2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy". The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the award, was supp ...

. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' described ''The Things We Cherished'' (2012) as "a timeless love story." Harlequin MIRA released ''The Other Girl'' on September 1, 2014. Although Jenoff's State Department experience was in Poland, she says that she "wrote all my earlier books set in Europe

hile Hile () is a hill town located in the Province of Nepal, 13 km north of the regional center of Dhankuta Bazar. At an elevation of 1948 meters, it is the main route to other hilly districts like Bhojpur and Sankhuwasabha. The shops and re ...

living in America" and her first novel set in the US while living in Poland. ''The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach'' was begun some 20 years before its completion; Jenoff acknowledges

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

's ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'' as an inspiration for this novel. ''The Lost Girls of Paris'' (2019) covers much the same ground as

Susan Elia MacNeal Susan Elia MacNeal (born 1968) is an American author best known for her Maggie Hope Series of novels set during World War II, mainly in London. While the initial books are mysteries, and Maggie is a secretary and mathematics tutor to Princess Eli ...

's ''The Paris Spy'' (2017). Both novels rely on the history of

Vera Atkins Vera May Atkins (15 June 1908 – 24 June 2000) was a Romanian-born British intelligence officer who worked in the France Section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) from 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War. Early life Atkins was ...

and the women she recruited and trained to work for Britain's

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

List of works

;Novels * ''The Kommandant's Girl'' (The Kommandant's Girl, #1) (2007) * ''The Diplomat's Wife'' (The Kommandant's Girl, #2) (2008) * ''Almost Home'' (2008) * ''A Hidden Affair'' * ''The Things We Cherished'' * ''The Ambassador's Daughter'' (Prequel to ''The Kommandant's Girl'') (2013) * ''The Winter Guest'' (2014) * ''The Other Girl'' (2014) * ''The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach'' (2015) * ''The Orphan's Tale'' (2017) * ''The Lost Girls of Paris'' (2019) * ''The Woman with the Blue Star'' (2021) * ''Code Name Sapphire'' (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenoff, Pam American romantic fiction writers American historical fiction writers American women historical novelists American historical novelists Rutgers School of Law–Camden faculty Alumni of the University of Cambridge Cherokee High School (New Jersey) alumni George Washington University alumni Living people Lawyers from Philadelphia People from Evesham Township, New Jersey People from Haddonfield, New Jersey University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Writers from Burlington County, New Jersey Writers from Camden County, New Jersey Writers from Philadelphia Year of birth missing (living people)