Ursula Bentley (18September 19457April 2004) was a British writer.

Early life

Ursula Mary Bentley was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, South Yorkshire, 18 September 1945. A couple hours after her birth her mother died of blood loss leaving her father to raise her along with her two older brothers. Her eldest brother was Chris Bentley, born in 1936, who died at age 29. Her other older brother is the actor and writer Paul Bentley, born in 1942.

Personal life and literary works

Ursula Bentley first studied medical training but then switched to English at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. She graduated in 1969 and married

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

Alan Bruce Thompson in the same year. In 1976 the married pair moved to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is there that she composed her first novel ''The Natural Order'' in 1982. The success of this book led her to being named in the inaugural "Best of British Young Novelists" list by

Granta magazine ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

. Her second book ''Private Accounts'' came out in 1986. She had two children. She returned to the UK to renew her life and published more novels: ''The Angel Of Twickenham'' (1996) and ''The Sloping Experience'' (1999). Living in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Awards and honours

* "Best of Young British Novelists" in 1983

References

1945 births 2004 deaths 20th-century British novelists British women novelists Alumni of the University of Manchester Deaths from cancer in England Place of birth missing Writers from Suffolk {{UK-novelist-stub