Emma Henderson (born 1958) is a British writer. Her first novel, ''Grace Williams Says It Loud'', was shortlisted for the 2011

Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

Life

Henderson grew up in suburban west London. Her sister Clare Williams (born 1946) was placed in an institution in 1957, judged impossible to educate; she was also partly paralysed due to

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

. Clare spent 35 years in hospitals before being released into community care, and died in 1997. This experience, and the guilt and anger it stirred in Henderson, partly inspired her novel ''Grace Williams Says It Loud''. She studied at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

Works

''Grace Williams Says It Loud''

Her 2010 novel is about a woman born in 1947 with severe disabilities and

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

who is incarcerated in British mental hospitals for thirty years. Although she has limited powers of speech, the novel presents her internal monologue. Events in the novel include a romance between Grace and Daniel, a male epileptic. ''The Independent'' called this relationship "tender and convincing" and the novel "superb". ''The Guardian'' called it a "sensitive and generous book", although they found the narration was sometimes too detached from the events it described.

References

Writers from London 1958 births Living people 21st-century British novelists Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford {{UK-writer-stub