Joanna Briscoe (born 1963) is an English writer who has written four novels and several short stories and has worked as a freelance journalist. Her first novel, ''Mothers and Other Lovers'', won a Betty Trask Award in 1993, and her third, ''Sleep with Me'' (2005), was adapted for television.

Early life

Briscoe spent much of her childhood in the south-west of England. At the age of 10, she moved with her family from

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

to Jordan Manor, an isolated, six-bedroom thatched Devon long house set within of land in a

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...

valley. She was rather isolated and she occupied her time reading and writing. Her works written as a teenager were rejected by publishers, but she was convinced she would be an author. Briscoe's parents took her out of primary school at the age of ten and arranged for her to be

home-schooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

by an unqualified teacher at a nearby farm. Many of the lessons were out-of-doors on Dartmoor. At the age of 13 years she returned to mainstream schooling at King Edward VI Community College, the local secondary school in

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...

, where she specialized in English in the

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

Career

Briscoe attended

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

before working for several years as a freelance journalist. Her short stories have featured in several anthologies, and she has contributed widely to publications that include ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

The Independent ''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 publish ...

,'' ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', 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, w ...

'' and broadcasting on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. Her first novel ''Mothers and Other Lovers'', in which a teenage girl tries to escape from a stultifying rural life, only to fall in love with her mother's new female friend, won a Betty Trask Award. Briscoe spent a lot of time in New York researching her second novel, ''Skin'', a runner-up for the

Encore Award The £10,000 Encore Award for the best second novel was first awarded in 1990. It is sponsored by Lucy Astor. The award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels, often neglecte ...

. This explored the plastic surgery and psychological toll taken on women by the beauty industry. Briscoe's third novel, the psychological thriller ''Sleep With Me'', published in July 2005, is according to author and critic

Jonathan Coe Jonathan Coe (; born 19 August 1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, '' What a ...

"a beautifully written and emotionally candid novel which also happens to be a page-turner." It has been published in several languages and shortlisted for the Prince Maurice Award. ''Sleep With Me'' was adapted for ITV Drama by Andrew Davies and starred

Adrian Lester Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey; 14 August 1968) is a British actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the ...

Jodhi May Jodhi Tania May (''née'' Hakim-Edwards; 8 May 1975) is a British actress. She remains the youngest recipient of the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, for ''A World Apart'' (1988). Her other film appearances include ''The Last ...

, and

Anamaria Marinca Anamaria Marinca (born 1 April 1978) is a Romanian actress. She made her screen debut with the Channel 4 film ''Sex Traffic'', for which she won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress. Marinca is also known for her performance in ...

. Her fourth novel, ''You'', was published in July 2011, and after being selected as a Kindle "daily deal" on 2 December 2011, went to the top of the Amazon Kindle best-seller ranking for that day.

Personal life

Briscoe lives in North London. She has two children.

Novels

*''Mothers and Other Lovers'' (1994) *''Skin'' (1997) *''Sleep With Me'' (2005) *''You'' (2011) *''Touched'' (2014) *''The Seduction'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

* Betty Trask Award (1995) *Encore Award (shortlisted) (1998)

References

External links

Joanna Briscoe at Bloomsbury

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Joanna English women novelists Writers from London English lesbian writers Living people English LGBT novelists 1963 births Alumni of University College London People from Somerset Writers from Totnes