Melissa Jane Nathan (13 June 1968 – 7 April 2006) was a journalist for a decade, before she began writing comedy romance novels in 1998, including ''The Nanny'' (2003) which featured in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' Top Ten.

Early life and education

She was born and raised in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, and educated at

Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls Haberdashers' Girls' School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as "Habs" (or "Habs Girls" to distinguish it from the neighbouring Haberdashers' Boys' School). The sch ...

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, which follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...

. She graduated with a degree in communications from the Polytechnic of Wales (now

University of Glamorgan The University of Glamorgan () was a public university based in South Wales, that merged with University of Wales, Newport to form the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with ...

) in 1989 after which she took a post-graduate course in journalism at the

University of Cardiff Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

Career

For the first ten years of her career she was sub-editor for '' Prima Magazine'', feature writer for '' Women's Weekly'' and contributor to ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

''. When working on ''Persuading Annie'' (2001), Nathan was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. She had no time for most journalism written by cancer sufferers: "self-indulgent

dirge A dirge () is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as may be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegy, elegies. Dirges are of ...

s without a

helpline A helpline, or switchboard, is a telephone service which offers help to those who call. Many helpline services now offer more than telephone support - offering access to information, advice or customer service via telephone, email, web or SMS. ...

in sight", as she described them; she tried to joke about cancer's unoriginality in her column in ''

'' and then added: Ironically, the characters in Nathan's first book, ''Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field'', were starring in a play version of ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

'' that benefitted breast cancer research. The book was written prior to Nathan knowing about her own future diagnosis with the disease.

Writing

* ''Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field'' (2000) Pub. Piatkus * ''Persuading Annie'' (2001) Pub. Piatkus * ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish wikt:fashionista, fashionista from Flushing, Queens, who becomes the nanny of three children ...

'' (2003) Pub. Random House. Listed on the Top Ten of ''

'' * ''The Waitress'' (2004) Pub. Random House. Reacher number five in the paperback fiction chart * ''The Learning Curve'' (2006) Published posthumously. * ''Acting Up'' (2008) – ''Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field'' renamed and republished by Penguin In 2004 she contributed a short story ''The Journey'' to a collection published by Waterstones in aid of

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

awareness.

Death and posthumous award

Nathan died from

in April 2006. Her final novel, ''The Learning Curve'', was published posthumously in August of the same year. The ''Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance'' was established in 2007 by Nathan's husband, to recognise quality comedy romance writers. Nathan drew up the criteria for the award shortly before she died, stipulating the award should "encourage and reward writers who can combine in a novel the magical, life-enhancing elements of humour and love." Early recipients were

Marian Keyes Marian Keyes (born 10 September 1963) is an Irish author and radio presenter. She is principally known for her popular fiction. Keyes became known for her novels ''Watermelon'', '' Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married'', ''Rachel's Holiday'', ''Las ...

for ''Anybody out there'' (2007) and Lisa Jewell for ''31 Dream Street'' (2008). Alongside Nathan's husband, judges have included

Joanna Trollope Joanna Trollope ( ; born 9 December 1943) is an English writer. She has also written under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Her novel ''Parson Harding's Daughter'' won in 1980 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Ass ...

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

Sophie Kinsella Madeleine Sophie Wickham, known by her pen name Sophie Kinsella, is an English author. The first two novels in her best-selling ''Shopaholic'' series, '' The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic'' and '' Shopaholic Abroad'', were adapted into th ...

Morwenna Banks Tamsin Morwenna Banks (born 20 September 1961) is a British actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show '' Absolutely'', and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film ''The Announc ...

and

Liza Tarbuck Liza Tarbuck ( ; born 21 November 1964) is an English actress, comedian, and television and radio presenter. Early life Liza Tarbuck was born in Liverpool and grew up near Kingston upon Thames. She is the daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck an ...

. In 2013 the award was renamed ''The Melissa Nathan Award for Fiction about Life and Love.'' It was won by Marie Semple for ''Where'd you go, Bernadette?''. In the same year, the award lost its sponsor and was put on hold. In 2008 ''Last Letters to Loved Ones'' by Rose Rouse featured Nathan's dedication pages from her final book in the chapter titled ''Death Draws Near for the Fatally Ill''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, Melissa 1968 births 2006 deaths Deaths from breast cancer Jewish English writers British chick lit writers English women novelists 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers People educated at Haberdashers' Girls' School Alumni of the University of Glamorgan Alumni of Cardiff University Writers from Hertfordshire