Sarah Hilary is an English crime novelist known for her ''Marnie Rome'' series of novels. She won the Fish Criminally Short Histories Prize in 2008 for her story, ''Fall River, in August 1892''. In 2012, she was awarded with the Cheshire Prize for Literature.

Early life and education

Hilary was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and later moved to the South East to study for a First Class Honours Degree in

History of Ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

. Hilary announced on X in June 18, 2022 that she is

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

Career

While Hilary had been writing since she was young, she was 47 years old when her novel, ''Someone Else's Skin'', was published in 2014 and was a ''

Richard & Judy Book Club ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 August ...

'' pick in the same year. It won the 2015

Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award The Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is one of the UK's top crime-fiction awards, sponsored by Theakston's Old Peculier. It is awarded annually at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the UK, held every July, as part of the H ...

, and in 2016, it was selected as one of the titles for World Book Night in the UK. It was also a Silver Falchion and

Macavity Awards The Macavity Awards, established in 1987, are a group of literary awards presented annually to mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. ...

finalist in the US. Her second book, ''No Other Darkness'', was shortlisted for a Barry Award. Sarah-Hilarys-parents-and-011

Hilary has written about her family history, most notably in "My Mother was Emperor Hirohito's Poster Child" for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', March 2014. Her mother and grandparents were prisoners of the Japanese in Batu Lintang camp where her grandfather, Stanley George Hill, died in 1945. Hilary wrote about her grandmother's experience in the camp for the Dangerous Women Project in 2017. She wrote the introduction for Virago's new editions of three books by

Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character T ...

republished in 2016: '' The Two Faces of January'', ''

This Sweet Sickness ''This Sweet Sickness'' (1960) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, about a man who is obsessed with a woman who has rejected his advances. It is a "painful novel about obsessive imaginary love". Composition Highsmith dedica ...

'', and '' People Who Knock on the Door''. Hilary talks about Highsmith's legacy for today's crime writers in ''A Gift for Killing'', June 2016. Her seventh novel, ''Fragile,'' published on 10 June 2021, is partly inspired by the motives of Daphne du Maurier's ''

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

.'' In 2023, she published ''Black Thorn'', a crime novel centred around six deaths at a seaside housing development in Cornwall. It received a positive review from Laura Wilson of ''

'', who praised Hilary's writing style.

Bibliography

Marnie Rome series

References

Living people 21st-century English novelists English crime fiction writers English crime writers English thriller writers English mystery writers Year of birth missing (living people) Autistic writers English writers with disabilities {{UK-writer-stub