Andrea Newman (7 February 1938 – 9 November 2019) was an English writer of fiction.

Biography

Andrea Newman was born in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the daughter of a reporter on the ''Kentish Mercury'' (who was born in India) and a mother who worked in an office during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(who was born in Jamaica). An only child, she taught at a grammar school after graduating with a degree in English from the

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. A

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of her novel ''Three into Two Won't Go'' (1967), with a screenplay by

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" D ...

, was released in 1969. It starred

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger (; April 14, 1925July 9, 2002, aged 77) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Cited as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars," he is closely assoc ...

and

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

, and was directed by Peter Hall. She adapted one of her short stories "The Night of the Stag" for ''The Frighteners'', an anthology series produced by

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

(LWT).

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British 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 News UK, whi ...

; ''The 100 hottest tickets of the year'' 10 January 2010. ''Helen: A Woman of Today'' was another LWT drama recounting the side of a wronged wife for which Newman wrote two episodes. Having been commissioned by

Tony Wharmby Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

for both projects, Newman sent him a copy of ''A Bouquet of Barbed Wire'' (1969) as a present; the book was by then out of print. Newman wrote the adaptation of her sixth novel for television. Broadcast in early 1976, '' Bouquet of Barbed Wire'' (losing the indefinite article) as a seven-part serial, it attracted an audience of 20 million viewers. In a 2010 interview, Newman recalled her work on the adaptation: "I never set out to shock, just to tell a story about an imaginary family, but I imagine most people would still disapprove of hitting your pregnant wife and having sex with her mother." Its sequel, ''Another Bouquet'', followed in 1977. Another novel, ''Mackenzie'', was dramatized by the BBC in 1980, starring Jack Galloway,

Lynda Bellingham Lynda Bellingham, OBE ( ; 31 May 194819 October 2014) was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as '' All Creatures Great and Small'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Second Thoughts'' and '' Faith in the Future''. Sh ...

and

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' (wi ...

. This adaptation was followed by ''Alexa'' (1968 – adapted for the BBC, 1982), ''A Sense of Guilt'' (1988 – adapted for the BBC, 1990), and ''An Evil Streak'' (1977 – adapted for LWT, 1999). In 2001, Newman was the writer for the television drama ''Pretending to Be Judith''. Her other novels include ''A Share of the World'' (1964), ''Mirage'' (1965), ''The Cage'' (1966) and ''A Gift of Poison'' (1991). ''Triangles'', a book of 15 short stories, was published in 1990. A notable theme in Andrea Newman's novels was the disintegration of a family after a baby arrives. Newman married in 1959 while studying at university, though the couple later divorced. She died in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in November 2019, aged 81, after suffering from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

since 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Andrea 1938 births 2019 deaths Alumni of Westfield College English women novelists People from Dover, Kent English people of Indian descent English people of Jamaican descent Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers