Nina Stibbe (born 1962) is a British writer born in

Willoughby Waterleys Willoughby Waterleys (formerly known as Willoughby Waterless) is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated near the A426 Leicester–to–Lutterworth road. Nearby villages are Ashby ...

and raised in

Fleckney Fleckney is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A6 national route between Market Harborough and Leicester. The village appeared in the Domesday Book ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. She became a nanny in the household of

Mary-Kay Wilmers Mary-Kay Wilmers, Hon. FRSL (born 19 July 1938) is an American editor and journalist. She was the editor of the '' London Review of Books'' from 1992Brooks, Richard"''London Review of Books'' £27m in the red – but it isn’t counting" ''The ...

, editor of the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

.'' Her letters home to her sister became her first book, ''Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life,'' which was adapted into the 2016 BBC television series, ''

Love, Nina ''Love, Nina'' is a 2016 British comedy drama starring Faye Marsay and Helena Bonham Carter. Adapted by Nick Hornby from Nina Stibbe's book, ''Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life,'' the series received its debut on BBC One on 20 May 2016 and ...

''.

Life and career

Born in 1962, Nina Stibbe grew up in rural

, England, in a single-parent family. In 1982, she left Leicestershire to work as the nanny in the household of

for two years, at 55 Gloucester Crescent, London, looking after Mary-Kay's two children with

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

, Sam and Will. At the time Gloucester Crescent was the home of a number of notable artistic and literary figures, including

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and tw ...

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

Claire Tomalin Claire Tomalin (née Delavenay; born 20 June 1933) is an English journalist and biographer, known for her biographies of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Samuel Pepys, Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. Early life Tomalin was born Claire Del ...

Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are ''Saturday Night and Sun ...

Deborah Moggach Deborah Moggach (née Hough; born 28 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. She has written nineteen novels, including '' The Ex-Wives'', ''Tulip Fever'' (made into the film of the same name), ''These Foolish Things'' (made into ...

and

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as '' Towards the End of the Mo ...

. This literary environment was completely new to her. During this time, Nina wrote letters to her sister Victoria, back in Leicestershire, detailing her experiences as a nanny amongst the literary elite. These letters became the basis for ''Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life,'' which was shortlisted for the

Waterstones Book of the Year The Waterstones Book of the Year, established in 2012, is an annual award presented to a book published in the previous 12 months. Waterstones' booksellers nominate and vote to determine the winners and finalists for the prize. Award winners recei ...

Award and won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2014

National Book Awards The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. After leaving the Wilmers household, Stibbe studied Humanities at

Thames Polytechnic The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. In 1990 she started work as a marketing assistant at

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City an ...

, then as a rep for the

Open University Press McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referen ...

, and finally for

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, becoming a commissioning editor. In 2002 she moved to

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 ...

with her partner, Mark Nunney, whom she met while living on Gloucester Crescent, and their children, Eva and Alfred. In 2014, she published her first semi-autobiographical novel, ''Man at the Helm''. Stibbe had been attempting to write the novel for more than 30 years, having struggled to find her voice. In 2016, ''Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life'' was adapted by Nick Hornby for the BBC, as ''

,'' starring

Faye Marsay Faye Elaine Marsay (born 30 December 1986) is an English actress. Her notable roles include Anne Neville in '' The White Queen'' (2013), the recurring character Candice in '' Fresh Meat'' (2013), Steph in the film ''Pride'' (2014), Amy in ''Need ...

in the title role and

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...

. ''Reasons to be Cheerful'' won the 2019

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the United Kingdom's first literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P. G. Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' and M ...

, making Stibbe the fourth woman to win the prize. ''Man At The Helm'' had been shortlisted in 2015 and ''Paradise Lodge'' had been on the 2017 shortlist. Two rare breed pigs were named Reasons and Cheerful after the novel's title. In 2020, Stibbe was awarded the Comedy Women in Print Prize for ''Reasons to be Cheerful,'' winning £3,000.

Awards

* 2020 - Comedy Women in Print Prize * 2019 -

Bibliography

* ''Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life,'' London: Penguin, 2013 * ''Man at the Helm,'' London: Penguin, 2014 * ''Paradise Lodge,'' London: Penguin, 2016 * ''An Almost Perfect Christmas,'' London: Penguin 2017 * ''Reasons to be Cheerful,'' London: Penguin 2019 * ''One Day I Shall Astonish the World,'' London: Penguin 2022

References

External links

Nina Stibbe website

Nina Stibbe on Penguin Books.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stibbe, Nina 1962 births Living people Alumni of the University of Greenwich British Book Award winners British women writers Penguin Books people