Sheila Kohler (born 13 November 1941) is a South African author now living in the United States and the author of ten novels (including '' Cracks'' which was adapted into a 2009 film of the same name), and three short story collections. Her writing has appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

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'' and included in the '' Best American Short Stories''. She has twice won the O. Henry Award.

Biography

Sheila Kohler was born 13 November 1941 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

Kohlrer, Sheila 1941 - Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series , Encyclopedia.com
Retrieved 27 June 2016. and educated at St. Andrew's School for Girls, where she matriculated in 1958 and earned a distinction in History. She then moved to Europe and spent 15 years in Paris, where she married and completed an undergraduate degree in literature at

The Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. ** Sorbonne Chapel *The University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) **Its components/successor ...

(1973) and a graduate degree in psychology from Institut Catholique (1976). She moved to the United States in 1981 and obtained an MFA from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(1984). From 1995 to 2000 she taught at

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

and between 2000 and 2006 at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

. She now teaches at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and Columbia, writes a blog for ''Psychology Today,'' and lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Amagansett Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States census, ...

, Long Island. She has three daughters: Sasha Troyan, herself a published novelist, Cybele, and Brett Sheila is married to Dr. William Tucker, a psychiatrist.

Writing

As revealed in the authors website, the violent death of her sister thirty years ago in apartheid South Africa caused her to explore in her fiction the theme of "violence within intimate relationships, in particular, the abuse of power and privilege." She explains that "Since then I have published nine novels, three collections of short stories, and several others not yet collected, all of which focus in some way on this theme". Her novel ''Open Secrets'' (2020) appeared in ''Vogue'''s list of the best novels of 2020, with Ian Malone writing, "The novel seduces and startles ..as the suspense mounts, the scope of the novel is revealed: Russian liaisons, hidden dossiers, convenient suicides, and complicit children render a frightening—and thrilling—landscape."

Novels

*''The Perfect Place'' (1989) *''The House on R Street'' (1994) *'' Cracks'' (1999) *''The Children of

Pithiviers Pithiviers () is a commune in the Loiret department, north central France. It is one of the subprefectures of Loiret. It is twinned with Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, England and Burglengenfeld in Bavaria, Germany. Its attractions in ...

'' (2001) *''Crossways'' (2004) *''Bluebird'' (2007) *''Becoming Jane Eyre'' (2009) *''Love Child'' (2011) *''The Bay of Foxes'' (2012) *''Dreaming for Freud'' (2014) *''Open Secrets'' (2020)

Collections

*''Miracles in America'' (1990) *''One Girl'' (1998) *''Stories from Another World'' (2003)

Non-fiction

*''Once We Were Sisters'' (2017)

References

External links

*
Blog
for ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. The publication began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The print magazine's reported circulation is 275,000 as of 2023. ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohler, Sheila Living people Writers from Johannesburg South African women novelists Women mystery writers University of Paris alumni Institut Catholique de Paris alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Princeton University faculty 1941 births People from Amagansett, New York Columbia University faculty The New School faculty Bennington College faculty South African women short story writers South African short story writers Writers from Manhattan