Janice Elliott (13 October 1931 – 25 July 1995)
[ was a prolific English fiction writer, journalist and children's writer.][ Her novels were critically successful in their time, but they are not currently in print.
]
Life
Elliott was born in Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
[ to an advertising executive, Douglas John Elliott, and his wife, Dorothy Wilson.][Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy: ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English'' (London: Batsford, 1990), p. 337.] and raised in Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
. She attended Nottingham Girls' High School
Nottingham Girls' High School is an independent selective day school for girls aged 4–18, situated just north of Nottingham city centre. The school was founded in 1875 and forms part of the Girls' Day School Trust.
History
Nottingham Girls' ...
and then read English at St. Anne's College, Oxford University.
She worked as a journalist in 1952–1962, notably for '' House and Garden'' and 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 ...
'', and then became a full-time writer, while continuing to write freelance press reviews. Meanwhile she married Robert Cooper, an oil executive and sailor, in 1959 and had a son. She lived in Partridge Green
Partridge Green is a village in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2135 road north-west of Henfield. It is in the parish of West Grinstead.
Partridge Green takes its name from a family called Partrych who were regist ...
, Sussex, for many years, before retiring in the mid-1980s to Fowey
Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...
, Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
.
Janice Elliott received a Southern Arts award in 1981 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1989. She died in 1995.[Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.]
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Novels
Elliott's 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 ...
''Cave with Echoes'' was published by Secker & Warburg
Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press.
History
Secker & Warburg
Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...
in 1962. This, like almost all her subsequent novels, was received with enthusiasm. Anthony Burgess commented that it had style, was genuinely constructed and that the characters were excellent.[JISC. Retrieved 6 February 2019.](_blank)
/ref> ''The Somnabulists'' (1964) featured a brother and sister alienated by their parents' early deaths. ''Secret Places'' (1981) was set in a girls' boarding school during World War II, and ''The Country of Her Dreams'' (1982) in a Balkan city picked to house a nuclear bunker for European art.
Her novel ''The Italian Lesson'' (1985) was published by Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint (trade name), imprint of Hachette (publisher), Hachette.
History
Early history
The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs ...
, as was most of her speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...
.[ Several of her non-domestic novels used disturbing scenarios. ''Dr Gruber's Daughter'' (1986), for example, has ]Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
hiding in an attic in North Oxford in 1953, while his daughter roams the streets looking for human and feline victims to devour.
''The King Awakes'' and ''The Empty Throne'', 1987 and 1988 novels illustrated by Grahame Baker, form an "Arthurian
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest tradition ...
sequence for older children", also known as ''The Sword and the Dream'' (series)[ after the title of its two-volume reissue.
Commenting on her work, Janice Elliott wrote, "I have always tried to avoid writing in a way that might invite categorisation in either subject matter or treatment. The result is a body of work ranging from the bizarre and darkly magical... to social realism."] Elliott (like Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...
, for example) worked methodically at her writings, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. each day, taking some nine months on average to write each novel. Yet despite critical success, she found it hard to make a living out of fiction writing.
Films
Elliott's novel ''The Buttercup Chain
''The Buttercup Chain'' is a 1970 British drama film directed by Robert Ellis Miller and starring Hywel Bennett, Jane Asher, and Leigh Taylor-Young. It was entered into the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.
The film is an adaptation of the 1967 The But ...
'' (1967) was filmed with the same title (1970). She worked on the screenplay. Also made the basis of a film, in 1984, were her wartime memoirs of Nottingham, ''Secret Places'' (1981).IMDb. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
/ref>
Published works
*''Cave with Echoes'' (1962)
*''The Somnambulists'' (1964)
*''The Godmother'' (1966)
*''The Buttercup Chain
''The Buttercup Chain'' is a 1970 British drama film directed by Robert Ellis Miller and starring Hywel Bennett, Jane Asher, and Leigh Taylor-Young. It was entered into the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.
The film is an adaptation of the 1967 The But ...
'' (1967)
*''The Singing Head'' (1968)
*''Angels Falling'' (1969)
*''The Birthday Unicorn'' (1970), illustrated by Michael Foreman,
*''The Kindling'' (1970)
*''A State of Peace'' (1971)
*''Private Life'' (1972)
*''Alexander in the Land of Mog'' (1973)
*''Heaven on Earth'' (1975)
*''A Loving Eye'' (1977)
*''The Honey Tree'' (1978)
*''The Summer People'' (1980)[
*''Secret Places'' (1981)
*''The Incompetent Dragon'' (1982)
*''The Country of Her Dreams'' (1982)][
*''Magic'' (1983)][
*''The Italian Lesson'' (1985)
*''Dr Gruber's Daughter'' (1986)][
*''The Sadness of Witches'' (1987)][
*''The King Awakes'' (1987)][
*''The Empty Throne'' (1988) – sequel to ''The King Awakes''][
*''Life on the Nile'' (1989)
*''The Sword and the Dream'' (1989) – reissue of ''The King Awakes'' + ''The Empty Throne''
*''Necessary Rites'' (1990)
*''The Noise from the Zoo and Other Stories'' (1991)
*''City of Gates'' (1992)][
*''Figures in the Sand'' (1994)][
]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Janice
1931 births
1995 deaths
English women novelists
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
20th-century English novelists
20th-century English women writers
English children's writers
Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford
People educated at Nottingham Girls' High School
Writers from Derby
Writers from Nottingham
People from Horsham District
People from Fowey