Nicci French is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

of English husband-and-wife team Nicci Gerrard (born 10 June 1958) and Sean French (born 28 May 1959), who write

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

s together.

Personal lives

Nicci Gerrard and Sean French were married in 1990. Since 1999 they have lived in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Both have studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The couple have two daughters, Hadley and Molly, and Gerrard has two children from her first marriage, Edgar and Anna.

Biography

Nicci Gerrard

Nicola 'Nicci' Gerrard was born on 10 June 1958. She grew up in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, together with her two sisters and her brother. She was educated at

The Alice Ottley School The Alice Ottley School was an independent all-girls' school in Worcester that existed under this name – referencing its first headmistress – between 1883 and 2007 before it merged with the Worcester Royal Grammar School. She had already resi ...

in Worcester. She then studied

and then an MPhil at

Sheffield University , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

in 1986. She went on to teach literature in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She founded a women's magazine, ''Women's Review'', before becoming a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

. During that time she married and had two children. Following the failure of this first marriage, she met Sean French whilst working as editor for the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' where French wrote a weekly column, but left when she was offered another job at ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''. In November 2014 her father John Gerrard died, his dementia having deteriorated significantly during a five-week stay in hospital for an unrelated problem and with very restricted visiting by his family. As a result of this Gerrard launched John's Campaign for extended visiting rights for carers of patients with dementia. Since February 2019, Gerrard has supported the 'Save Our Libraries Essex' (SOLE) campaign, speaking out against the proposed closures of libraries by Essex County Council.

Sean French

Julian Sean French was born on 28 May 1959 in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, the son of

Philip French Philip Neville French OBE (28 August 1933 – 27 October 2015) was an English film critic and radio producer. French began his career in journalism in the late 1950s, before eventually becoming a BBC Radio producer, and later a film crit ...

, a radio producer and film critic, and his Swedish-born wife Kersti (née Molin). He was, like his two younger brothers Patrick and Karl, educated at William Ellis secondary school in north London before studying English literature at Oxford University. The couple never met while there. While at Oxford University, French won a young writers contest organised by ''

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'', and subsequently became a journalist. In 1987 he gained his first column and until the end of 2000 he wrote a column for the ''

''. His solo novel ''Start from Here'' was published in 2004.

Works

as Nicci French

*''

The Memory Game ''The Memory Game'' is a psychological thriller by London journalists, Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, under the pseudonym Nicci French. It was their first novel (followed by ''The Safe House'') and originally published by William Heinemann ...

'' (1997) *''The Safe House'' (1998) *'' Killing Me Softly'' (1999) *''Beneath the Skin'' (2000) *'' The Red Room'' (2001) *''The People Who Went Away'' (2001), a short story published as a novella for promotional purposes *''Grieve'' (2002), a short story published in Dutch as ''Verlies'' on the occasion of Thriller Month (

Maand van het Spannende Boek The Maand van het Spannende Boek (June) is a Dutch theme month to promote literary genres of "exciting books" (detectives, thrillers) and is organized by the Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek. Background This promotion began with a na ...

). *'' Land of the Living'' (2003) *''Secret Smile'' (2003), basis of British TV series ''

Secret Smile ''Secret Smile'' is a British drama serial in two parts shown by ITV in December 2005. It is set in Acton, London and is based on the 2003 Nicci French book of the same name, directed by Christopher Menaul and starring David Tennant, Claire G ...

''. *''

Catch Me When I Fall ''Catch Me When I Fall'' (2005) is a psychological thriller novel by Nicci French, about a woman unknowingly afflicted with bipolar disorder, and how this sets her life on a spiral of self-destruction, as well as pitting her against a shadowy an ...

'' (2005) *'' Losing You'' (2006) *''Until It's Over'' (2007) *''Speaking Ill of the Dead'' (2008), a short story published for promotional purposes *'' What to Do When Someone Dies'' (2008) *''Complicit'' (2009), published in the United States as ''The Other Side of the Door'' (2010) *''Blue Monday'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2011) *''Tuesday's Gone'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2013) *''Waiting for Wednesday'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2013) *''Thursday's Child'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2014) *''Friday on My Mind'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2015) *''Saturday Requiem'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2016), published in the United States as ''Dark Saturday'' (2017) *''Sunday Morning Coming Down'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2017), published in the United States as ''Sunday Silence'' *''The Day of the Dead'' (A Frieda Klein Novel) (2018) *''The Lying Room'' (2019) *''House of Correction'' (2020) *''The Unheard'' (2021) *''The Favour'' (2022)

Works solely by Sean French

* ''Patrick Hamilton: A Life'' (1993), biography * ''The Imaginary Monkey'' (1994), novel * ''Bardot'' (1995), biography * ''The Dream of Dreams'' (1996), novel * ''Jane Fonda: A Biography'' (1998), biography * ''Start from Here'' (2004), novel.

Works solely by Nicci Gerrard

*''Things we knew were true'' (Michael Joseph, 2003) – featuring teenage sisters, *''Soham'' (2004) *''Solace'' (2005) *''Simple in the Moonlight'' (2006) *''The Moment you were Gone '' (2007) *''The Middle Place'' (2008) *''The Winter House'' (2009) *''Missing Persons'' (2011) *''The Twilight Hour'' (2014) *’’What Dementia Teaches Us About Love’’ (2019)

References

External links

Official website 2004–2014
(archived 2014-04-04)
Nicci French
at Penguin Books * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Nicci English thriller writers Writing duos Married couples Collective pseudonyms Living people British psychological fiction writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Year of birth missing (living people)