Raffaella Flora Barker (born 24 November 1964) is an English author. Born in London, she moved when she was three and was brought up in the

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

countryside. She is the one of the poet George Barker's fifteen children, the eldest of the five he had with novelist

Elspeth Barker Elspeth Barker (16 November 1940 – 21 April 2022) was a Scottish novelist and journalist. Born as Elspeth Langlands, she was raised in Drumtochty Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where her parents ran a prep school for boys. From 1958, she ...

. She lives in Norfolk,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with her family.

Biography

Raffaella was born 24 November 1964 and was brought up in

Itteringham Itteringham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, some northwest of the market town of Aylsham. It covers an area of and had a population of 136 in 60 households at the 2001 census, the population reducing to 125 at ...

. After attending

Norwich High School for Girls Norwich High School for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18 in Norwich, England. The school was founded in 1875 by the Girls’ Public Day School Company (now the Girls' Day School Trust), which aimed to establish schools ...

, Raffaella left Norfolk for London where she moved through life modelling, film-editing and journalism before she began writing novels. To date, she has written nine novels, including one for young adults (see "Publications"). She has also written short stories for the radio, worked at '' Harpers & Queen'' magazine, as a columnist for '' Country Life'' and has been a regular contributor to ''

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 ...

'', ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'', ''

Harpers Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. She also teaches on the English Literature and Creative Writing BA at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

and the Guardian Novel Writing Masterclass.

Publications

*''Come And Tell Me Some Lies'' (1994) *''The Hook'' (1996) *''Hens Dancing'' (1999) *''Summertime'' (2001) *''Green Grass'' (2002) *''Phosphorescence'' (2004) - Young Adult *''A Perfect Life'' (2006) *''Poppyland'' (2008) *''From a Distance'' (2014)

References

Raffaella Barker on Facebook
/ref> 1964 births Living people Academics of the University of East Anglia People from Itteringham 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists British women novelists {{UK-writer-stub