Eleanor Updale (born 1953) is an English fiction writer, best known for the

Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

children's book '' Montmorency'' (2003), and its sequels, which feature the

namesake A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...

fictional character, Montmorency, a former convict turned gentleman.

Personal life and education

Eleanor Updale was born in 1953 and grew up in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. She studied history at

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...

in the 1970s. She studied for an M.Res. degree at the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary College, University of London in 2003. Her research into early members of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in History by the university in 2007. She is also a trustee of the charity Listening Books. Updale is married to broadcaster James Naughtie. The couple have three children.

Career

Updale was a producer of television and radio current affairs programmes for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, including ''

The World at One ''The World at One'' (or ''WATO'', pronounced "what-oh") is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs radio programme, broadcast weekdays from 13:00 to 13:45 and produced by BBC News. The programme describes itself as "Bri ...

'' and ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

,'' from 1975 to 1990. She was a member of the editorial advisory board of the journal '' Clinical Ethics'', published by the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

. Update wrote the ''Montmorency'' series of five

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

historical crime novels from 2003 to 2013. It features Montmorency, an English ex-convict turned

gentleman detective The gentleman detective is a type of fictional character. He (or she) has long been a staple of crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories set in the United Kingdom in the Golden Age. While not necessarily aristocracy, the ...

and spy. In 2004 ''Montmorency'' won the

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

award for ‘The Book I Couldn’t Put Down’. In 2012, ''Montmorency'' was dramatised by Free Range Productions for the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

. ''Guardian'' reviewer

Philip Ardagh Philip Ardagh is an English children's author, primarily known for the Eddie Dickens series of books. He has written more than 100 books including adult fiction and children's non-fiction. During 2004 and 2005 Ardagh collaborated with Sir P ...

described the ''Montmorency'' books as "rattling-good adventures

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

centre around the life of a Jekyll-and-Hyde thief who uses the sewers as an escape route".

Novels

Updale's children's novel, '' Montmorency,'' was published in the UK by

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

in 2003 (and subsequently by its Orchard Books imprint in the U.S. under the title ''Montmorency: thief, liar, gentleman?''). It was followed by four novels in the series. * ''Montmorency on the Rocks: doctor, aristocrat, murderer?'' (2004) * ''Montmorency and the Assassins: master, criminal, spy?'' (2005) * ''Montmorency's Revenge: madman, actor, arsonist?'' (2006) * ''Montmorency's Return'' (2013) She has also written books with other characters: * ''Itch, Scritch, Scratch'', illustrated by Sarah Horne ( Barrington Stoke, 2008) * ''Saved'' (Barrington Stoke, 2008) * ''Johnny Swanson'' ( David Fickling Books, 2010) * ''The Last Minute'' (David Fickling Books, 2013)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Updale, Eleanor 1953 births Living people British children's writers British historical novelists Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Alumni of Queen Mary University of London People from Camberwell Writers from the London Borough of Southwark Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)