Amanda-Jane Pearce (born 1964) is an English author. She is known for her ''Sunday Times'' Bestselling historical fiction series ''The Emmy Lake Chronicles'', beginning with ''Dear Mrs Bird'' in 2018.

Life and career

Pearce is from

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. She attended secondary school in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

. She went on to graduate with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in American Studies and History from the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

. She studied abroad in the United States at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. She worked in entertainment marketing and publishing for an engineering magazine before going into writing, a hobby she enjoyed as a child and rediscovered in 2005. She honed her creative writing skills through classes with the

Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Ch ...

. Pearce was inspired to write ''Dear Mrs Bird'' by a women's magazine from 1939 she stumbled upon back in 2011. She began collecting wartime magazines to form the premise of her

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

London-set novel. Following a bidding auction, Pearce landed a two-book publishing deal with

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...

in 2016 with potential for more.

Scribner Scribner may refer to: Media * Charles Scribner's Sons, also known as Scribner or Scribner's, New York City publisher * ''Scribner's Magazine'', pictorial published from 1887–1939 by Charles Scribner's Sons, then merged with the ''Commentator ...

won the U.S. side of the deal. In advance of ''Dear Mrs Birds release date, 42 optioned the novel for television. ''Dear Mrs Bird'' was published in April 2018 and became a ''Sunday Times'' Bestseller. It was shortlisted at the 2019 British Book Awards and for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize. Its sequel, ''Yours Cheerfully'', followed in summer 2021. It was also a ''Times'' Bestseller. In an interview with ''

My Weekly ''My Weekly'' is a magazine for women. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd of Dundee, Scotland. It tends to consist of short stories, reader contributions, knitting or sewing patterns, and celebrity gossip. There are no real life horror stori ...

'', Pearce discussed her plans for the series to follow the lead character Emmy through the war.

Bibliography

''The Emmy Lake Chronicles''

* ''Dear Mrs Bird'' (2018) * ''Yours Cheerfully'' (2021) * ''Mrs Porter Calling'' (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, AJ Living people 1964 births 21st-century English women writers Alumni of the University of Sussex English historical novelists People from Basingstoke English women historical novelists Writers from Hampshire