Kate Mascarenhas is a writer born in 1980 of mixed heritage, with a white

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

father and a brown British mother.Kate Mascarenhas biography
/ref> Mascarenhas grew up in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

with family in Ireland and

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

Early life

Mascarenhas's father, who was an alcoholic, died of a heart attack when she was aged 22. Mascarenhas studied English at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and applied psychology at the

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, Ear ...

. She gained her PhD in literary studies and psychology at the

University of Worcester , motto_lang = la , mottoeng = ''Aspire to Inspire'' , established = 1946 – Worcester Emergency Teacher Training College 1948 – Worcester Teacher Training College 1976 – Worcester College of Higher Education 1997 – ...

. Mascarenhas became fascinated by dolls' houses when she was nine, after reading a library book about

Queen Mary's Dolls' House Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a dollhouse built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for Queen Mary, the wife of King George V. It was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with contributions from many notable artists and craftsmen of the ...

. Her father made her an intricate dolls' house when she was a child.

Career

Previously she has been an advertising copywriter, bookbinder, and doll’s house maker and has made

dioramas A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

for her novels. Mascarenhas trained as a psychologist but returned to writing when she was 32 after being diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. Her first novel, '' The Psychology of Time Travel'', was published in 2018 by

Head of Zeus Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a ...

in the UK and by Crooked Lane in the US and was shortlisted for the

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

. ''The Guardian'' called her ''The Psychology of Time Travel'' "a dazzling genre-defying debut". Her second novel, '' The Thief on the Winged Horse'', was published in August 2020. ''Hokey Pokey'', her third novel, was published June 2023. In November 2020, Mascarenhas was featured on ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

'' discussing ''The Thief on the Winged Horse'', and her passion for dolls.

Personal life

Mascarenhas lives with her husband in a small terraced house.

Novels

* '' The Psychology of Time Travel'' (Head of Zeus, 2018, ) * ''The Thief on the Winged Horse'' (Head of Zeus, 2020, ) * ''Hokey Pokey'' (Head of Zeus, 2023, )

References

External links

* * Living people 1980 births Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of the University of Derby Alumni of the University of Worcester People from Oldham English women novelists 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers {{UK-writer-stub