Helen FitzGerald (born 1966 in

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

, Australia) is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''Dead Lovely'', was published by

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

in 2007, and ''The Exit'' in 2015 by

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

. ''Viral'' was released in 2016.

Background

She was raised in the country town of

Kilmore, Victoria Kilmore () is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. Located north of Melbourne, it is the oldest inland town in Victoria by the combination of age and physical occupation, and because it had unique agricultural attributes to drive that e ...

; the twelfth in a family of thirteen children. She studied English and History at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, before later attending

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

where she completed a Diploma and Masters in Social Work. She began writing while working as a criminal justice social worker, where for a period she worked with serious sex offenders in Glasgow's

Barlinnie Prison HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, ...

. She quit this job for a time to focus solely on her writing career, before returning to the field part-time. She cites her experience as a social worker an inspiration in the subject matter of her writing.

Writing

FitzGerald began as a screenwriter, writing scripts for a series of educational children's dramas for

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

. However, she became frustrated with the industry when none of her subsequent screenplays were produced, and she turned to novel-writing. She states that the rules of screenwriting are very stringent, but that in having learned them she has improved as a writer. Her books are mostly thrillers, though she herself has described her genre as " Domestic Noir", a term coined by her fellow author Julia Crouch.

Works

FitzGerald has written fifteen novels to date: *
Dead Lovely
', published 2007 *
The Devil's Staircase
', published 2009 *
My Last Confession
', published 2009 *
Bloody Women
', published 2009 *
Amelia O'Donohue is SO not a Virgin
', published 2010 *
The Donor
', published 2011 *
Hot Flush
', published 2011 *
The Duplicate
', published 2012 *
Deviant
', published 2013 *
The Cry
', published 2013, '' The Cry'' was adapted as a BBC serial (2018) starring Jenna Colman and

Ewen Leslie Ewen Leslie (born 27 July 1980) is an Australian stage, film and television actor. Career Theatre His first work on Sydney stages was performing at the Old Fitzroy Hotel theatre in Woolloomooloo. In 2007 he was cast by Philip Seymour Hoffma ...

*
The Exit
', published 2015 *
Viral
', published 2016 *''Worst Case Scenario,'' 201

*''Ash Mountain'', 2021 *''Keep Her Sweet'', 2022

Critical reaction

A few critics noted that FitzGerald's first book, while generally described as a crime novel, did not follow the traditional rules of the genre. They argued that it belonged to a different, more psychologically complex tradition, characterised by the dark humour and flawed anti-heroines of writers such as

Tama Janowitz Tama Janowitz (born April 12, 1956) is an American novelist and a short story writer. She is often referenced as one of the main "brat pack" authors, along with Bret Easton Ellis and Jay McInerney. Life Her parents, psychiatrist Julian Janowi ...

and

Fay Weldon Fay Weldon CBE, FRSL (born Franklin Birkinshaw; 22 September 1931 – 4 January 2023) was an English author, essayist and playwright. Over the course of her 55-year writing career, she published 31 novels, including ''Puffball'' (1980), '' The ...

. Novelist Mark Abernethy wrote of FitzGerald: "She has managed to do what Fay Weldon did in ''

The Life and Loves of a She-Devil ''The Life and Loves of a She-Devil'' is a 1983 novel by British feminism, feminist author Fay Weldon. A story about a highly unattractive woman who goes to great lengths to take revenge on her husband and his attractive lover, Weldon stated tha ...

'', which is to find the joke in what appalls us." Australian critic Sally Murphy described the novel as compelling but hard to classify, with "elements of chick-lit mixed with ghastly scenes of murder and retribution", while Adelaide writer Cath Kenneally highlighted FitzGerald's technique of underpinning audacious and potentially shocking material – " working blue" – with "

sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

acumen". ''The Cry'' has received the widest critical acclaim of any of FitzGerald's novels to date, with Fitzgerald's friend Doug Johnstone from ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' stating: "Astonishingly good. It is utterly harrowing, completely plausible, constantly nerve-shredding ... It plays on the deepest, darkest fears of all parents about their children, and embeds that everyday terror in a plot so up-to-the-minute that you'll swear it's been lifted from the pages of a newspaper ... ''The Cry'' is a remarkable novel – its devastating power all the stronger for its realistic rendering. Brilliant stuff."

Nominations

FitzGerald has been nominated for several awards, including: * 2010

Davitt Award The Davitt Awards are literary awards which are presented annually by the Sisters in Crime Australia association. The awards are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812–1879) who wrote Australia's first mystery novel, ''Force and Fraud'' in 1865 ...

for ''The Devil's Staircase'' * 2010 Spinetingler Award for ''The Devil's Staircase'' * 2012 Davitt Award for ''The Donor'' * 2014 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for ''The Cry'' * 2014 Davitt Award for ''The Cry'' * 2020 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, shortlisted for ''Worst Case Scenario''

References

External links

Website
*http://orendabooks.co.uk/helen-fitzgerald/ *https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06nkddf {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Helen 1966 births Living people 21st-century Australian novelists Australian women screenwriters Australian women novelists People from Shepparton 21st-century Australian women writers Writers from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian screenwriters