Sara Maitland (born 27 February 1950) is a British writer of religious fantasy. A novelist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency.

Life and career

Sarah (later "Sara") Louise Maitland was born in London as the second of six children of Adam Maitland (a descendant of the judge Thomas Maitland, Lord Dundrennan) and Hope Baillie Fraser-Campbell. Adam Maitland's mother, Cecil Louise, was from the Scottish family of Mackenzie of Portmore descending from

Colin Mackenzie of Portmore Colin Mackenzie of Portmore WS FRSE (1770-1830) was a Scottish lawyer and companion of Sir Walter Scott. Life Mackenzie was born on 11 January 1770 the son of Alexander Mackenzie of Portmore in Peebleshire and his wife Anne. He went to school in ...

, friend of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

. Maitland has described her upper-class London family as "very open and noisy". In her childhood she went to school in a small

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

town and attended St Mary's, a girls'

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

Calne Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs ...

, from the age of 12 until her admission to university. Maitland thought this school a terrible place and became very excitable. Growing up, Maitland developed a wild reputation: in 1966 she scandalised one of her brothers by winning a foot race in a very short cotton dress. On entering

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 ...

in 1968 to study English, she became friends with future US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

"and a regular visitor at 46 Leckford Road, a house Clinton shared with Frank Aller, Jana (Jan) Brenning and

Strobe Talbott Nelson Strobridge Talbott III (born April 25, 1946) is an American foreign policy analyst focused on Russia. He was associated with '' Time'' magazine, and a diplomat who served as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1994 to 2001. He was presiden ...

". She suffered from problems of mental disarray and inability to carry out routine tasks. During her college years, Maitland was taken to a

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

on several occasions for this reason, but she completed her course and soon turned to writing. Maitland originally became regarded as one of those at the vanguard of the 1970s feminist movement and is often described as a

feminist writer Feminist literature is fiction, nonfiction, drama, or poetry, which supports the feminist goals of defining, establishing, and defending equal civil, political, economic, and social rights for women. It often identifies women's roles as unequal ...

. She has been absorbed in religion since 1972. From 1972 to 1993 she was married to an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

priest, but divorced in 1993 and became a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. In 1995, she worked with

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

on the film '' A.I. Artificial Intelligence''. She has two adult children. Maitland's daughter Polly Lee is an actress best known for her work on the American television series ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American period spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also serve as showrunners a ...

'' and '' Gotham''. Maitland's son Adam Lee is a photographer best known for his photographic series ''Identity Documents'' and his work with Look - Liverpool International Photography Festival. Since Adam left college, Maitland has moved towards a solitary and prayerful life in a variety of locations, first of all on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...

and ultimately in her present house in

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or ...

. She says today that she wants to avoid most of the comforts of life, especially those that intrude into her quest for silence such as mobile phones, radio, television and even her son. She has described these changes in her life and the experiences leading to them in the autobiographical ''A Book of Silence''. Maitland lectures part-time for

Lancaster University , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty ...

's MA in Creative Writing and is a Fellow of St Chad's College,

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

. Maitland's 2003 collection of short stories, ''On Becoming a Fairy Godmother'', is a fictional celebration of the menopausal woman, while the title story of 2008's ''Far North'' was originally published as "True North" in her first collection ''Telling Tales'' and was made into a film of the same title in 2007. The rest of ''Far North'' collects dark mythological tales from around the world.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Daughter of Jerusalem'', 1978 (winner of Somerset Maugham Award 1979) ** also published as ''The Languages of Love'' * ''Virgin Territory'', 1984 * ''Arky Types'', 1987 (with

Michelene Wandor Michelene Dinah Wandor (née Samuels; born 20 April 1940), known from 1963 to at least 1979 as Michelene Victor, is an English playwright, critic, broadcaster, poet, lecturer, and musician. Birth and education She was born Michelene Samuels i ...

) * ''Three Times Table'', 1991 * ''Home Truths'', 1993 ** published as ''Ancestral Truths'' in the United States * ''Hagiographies'', 1998 * ''Brittle Joys'', 1999

Short story collections

* ''Telling Tales'', 1983 * ''A Book of Spells'', 1987 * ''Women Fly When Men Aren't Watching'', 1992 * ''Angel and Me'' (for

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

), 1996 * ''On Becoming A Fairy Godmother'', Maia, 2003 * ''Far North & Other Dark Tales'', 2008 * ''Moss Witch'', 2013

Non-fiction

* ''A Map of the New Country: Women and Christianity'', 1983 * ''

Vesta Tilley Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13May 186416September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 19 ...

'',

Virago A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word ''virāgō'' ( genitive virāginis) meaning vigorous' from ''vir'' meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue) to which the suffix ''-ā ...

, 1986 * ''A Big-Enough God: Artful Theology'', Mowbray, 1994 * ''Virtuous Magic: Women Saints and Their Meanings'' (with

Wendy Mulford Wendy Mulford (born 1941) is a Welsh-born poet, associated with the contemporary ''avant garde'' scene, with the British Poetry Revival, and with the development of feminist poetry in the 1970s. Her poetry has been viewed as "difficult to categor ...

), 1998 * ''Novel Thoughts: Religious Fiction in Contemporary Culture'', Erasmus Institute, 1999 * ''Awesome God: Creation, Commitment and Joy'',

SPCK The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is th ...

, 2002 * ''The Write Guide'' (with Martin Goodman), New Writing North, 2007 * ''

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

'' (with

Chris Gollon Chris Gollon (1953 – 25 April 2017) was a British artist. Gollon was born in London, England. He lived near London, working from his studio in Surrey. He regularly exhibited in London and Monmouth with IAP Fine Art. He had many solo museum e ...

), 2009 * ''A Book of Silence'',

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

, 2008 (hardcover); 2009 (paperback) * '' Gossip from the Forest: the Tangled Roots of our Forests and Fairytales'' (),

, 2012 * ''How to Be Alone'', in ''The School of Life'' series (), Picador, 2014

As editor

* ''Very Heaven: Looking Back at the 1960s'', 1988 * ''The Rushdie File'', 1990 (with

Lisa Appignanesi Lisa Appignanesi (born Elżbieta Borensztejn; 4 January 1946) is a British-Canadian writer, novelist, and campaigner for free expression. Until 2021, she was the Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a former President of English PEN ...

)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Orlando Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maitland, Sara 1950 births Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford British feminist writers Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Living people Roman Catholic writers British Roman Catholics British women short story writers British women novelists People educated at St Mary's School, Calne Writers from London 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English writers 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British short story writers