Cathy Kelly (born 12 September 1966) is an Irish former journalist and writer of

women's fiction Women's fiction is an umbrella term for women centered books that focus on women's life experience that are marketed to female readers, and includes many mainstream novels or women's rights books. It is distinct from women's writing, which refers ...

since 1997. She has gained international recognition with her popular fiction novels, which are published globally in many languages. In 2001, her novel ''Someone Like You'' won the

Romantic Novel of the Year Award The Romantic Novel of the Year Award is an award for romance novels since 1960, presented by Romantic Novelists' Association, and since 2003, the novellas, also won the Love Story of the Year (now RoNA Rose Award). In 2018, awards were given to ...

by the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body that represents authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stuar ...

. Kelly is one of the most successful female authors to come out of Ireland since

Maeve Binchy Anne Maeve Binchy Snell (28 May 1939Born 1939 as per biography, ''Maeve Binchy'' by Piers Dudgeon, Thomas Dunne Books 2013; (hardcover), pp. 4, 280, 302; (ebook) – 30 July 2012) was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, colum ...

, having once outsold both

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), '' The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), '' Inferno'' (2013), ...

and

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

in the UK.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

but raised in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, she studied at a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

school. Kelly initially worked for 13 years as a newspaper journalist with the '' Sunday World'', where she worked in news, features, along with spending time as an agony aunt and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

. However, her overwhelming love was always fiction and she published her first international bestseller, ''Woman To Woman'', in 1997. She did not become a full-time writer until she had written another two books (''She’s The One'' and ''Never Too Late'') and finally decided to leave the world of journalism in 2001. ''Someone Like You'', ''What She Wants'', ''Just Between Us'' and ''Best of Friends'' followed in successive years. ''Always and Forever'' was her first hardback number one and then topped the overall UK bestseller list during October 2005, displacing

and

who had been on top most weeks. Her books ''Lessons in Heartbreak'' and ''Homecoming'' were shortlisted for the

Eason Eason is a surname. The name comes from Aythe where the first recorded spelling of the family name is that of Aythe Filius Thome which was dated circa 1630, in the "Baillie of Stratherne". Aythe ''filius'' Thome received a charter of the lands of F ...

Irish Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

. ''Once in a Lifetime'' topped the UK bestsellers for Kelly again, for multiple weeks. In March 2011, ''Homecoming'' achieved the same feat. Her recent short story collection, ''Christmas Magic'', was a Christmas number one in Ireland. She is hugely popular around the world: a number one bestseller in Australia and New Zealand, where she tours annually, and published in many different languages. Kelly's trademark is warm story-telling; she writes books which deal with themes ranging from relationships and marriage to depression and loss, but always with an uplifting message and strong female characters at the heart.

Philanthropy

Kelly is involved with many charities and has been an Ambassador for

UNICEF Ireland UNICEF Ireland, also known as the Irish National Committee for UNICEF, is one of 36 UNICEF National Committees based in industrialised countries. The National Committees raise funds for the organisation's worldwide emergency and development w ...

since 2005. She works as a Global Parent for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

, which means raising funds and awareness for children orphaned by or living with HIV/AIDs. Her role has seen her visit Rwanda and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Television

In 2022, Kelly appeared on the fifth series of the Irish version of ''Dancing With the Stars''. She was the first contestant to be eliminated.

Personal life

Kelly lives in

Enniskerry Enniskerry (historically ''Annaskerry'', from ) is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. The population was 1,889 at the 2016 census. Location The village is situated on the Glencullen River in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in the ea ...

, County Wicklow with her family and three dogs.

Bibliography

Single novels

*''Woman to Woman'' (1997) *''She's the One'' (1998) *''Never Too Late'' (1999) *''Someone Like You'' (2000) *''What She Wants'' (2001) *''Just Between Us'' (2002) *''Best of Friends'' (2003) *''Always and Forever'' (2005) *''Past Secrets'' (2006) *''Lessons in Heartbreak'' (2008) *''Once in a Lifetime'' (2009) *''The Perfect Holiday'' (2010) *''Homecoming'' (2010) *''The House on Willow Street'' (2012) *''The Honey Queen'' (2013) *''It Started With Paris'' (2014) *''Between Sisters'' (2015) *''Secrets of a Happy Marriage'' (2017)

Novellas

*''Letter from Chicago'' (2002)

Collections

*''Christmas Magic'' (2011)

References and sources

External links

Official website

Cathy's Official Facebook Page

Cathy's Twitter Page

Cathy Kelly
on Fantasticfiction.com
Cathy Kelly's author profile
on

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

BBC raw Quick Reads – The Perfect Holiday by Cathy Kelly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Cathy 1966 births Living people Irish film critics Irish women critics Irish women novelists Irish women journalists Journalists from Belfast RoNA Award winners 20th-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish women writers 21st-century Irish women writers Women romantic fiction writers Women film critics