Linda newbery biography

Background.
I wanted to be a writer from the age of eight.
The site of Linda Newbery, award-winning author of fiction for children, teenagers and adults.

•

I wanted to be a writer from the age of eight. The first book I can remember reading by myself was Black Beauty(an abridged, illustrated edition); I read and re-read it until I almost knew it by heart, and can still remember the illustrations. From then on, I was a secret writer – filling exercise books with stories which I hid in my wardrobe. Eventually it occurred to me that if I was ever to achieve my dream of being a published writer, I’d better do something about it. So I set myself the challenge of completing a novel and submitting it to publishers.

My first novel, Run with the Hare, was for young adults and was about a sixth-form girl who becomes involved with an Animal Rights group. (I've been vegetarian since my early twenties, and animal welfare is a subject I am passionate about). Run with the Hare became the first of several young adult novels, including the Some Other War trilogy set in the First World War, Flightsend and The Damage Done.

At that time I was teaching English in a comprehensive school, gradually going part-time t

•

When the ground shifts, where is one true thing to be found?

Jane, in her twenties, is left parentless when her father dies suddenly; a second shock follows when his Will reveals the existence of a son no-one knew of. Now Wildings, the family home, must be sold. Spanning two generations, the novel tells the story of Bridget, Jane’s mother, trapped in an unhappy marriage on which her career depends, and of stone-carver Meg, who wants only independence but is enmeshed in conflicting loyalties and desires when Adam, a young artist, enters their lives, to devastating effect.

Now far from Wildings, Meg is bound by a promise to support Jane in her loss. Having thought of herself as an observer who saw everything, she’s forced to realise how much she failed to see – and the cost to those she loves.

‘Abeautifully complex tapestry of lives and relationships … a novel to immerse yourself in.’ Jane Rogers, author of Mr Wroe’s Virgins

Published on April 24th by Writers Review Publishing.

Cover art and design by Owen Gent.

To start 2025, here's guest No.9:

•

Linda Newbery

British writer

Linda Iris Newbery (born 12 August 1952)^[1] is a British writer known best for young adult fiction—where she entered the market, although she has broadened her range to encompass all ages. She published her first novel Run with the Hare in 1988,^[2] while still working as an English teacher^{[clarification needed]} in a comprehensive school. Her 2006 novel Catcall won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Silver Award.

Newbery is a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation and is a member of the Society of Authors and the Scattered Authors' Society.^[3]

Background

Linda Newbery was born in Romford, Essex,^[1] spent most of her childhood in Epping, and attended a grammar school in nearby Loughton.^[4] As a child she kept her writing a secret, having been told by a headteacher that writing was "not a proper job", yet she filled several exercise books with her stories. As a young adult,^{[clarification needed]} she also experimented with writing poetry.^[5] She taught E