Sandra Newman (born November 6, 1965, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American writer. She has a BA from

Polytechnic of Central London , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

, and an MA from 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 ...

. Newman's first novel, ''The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done'', was first published in 2002 and received a nomination for the 2002

Guardian First Book Award The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspap ...

. The novel features an American adoptee from Guatemala named Chrysalis Moffat and focuses on events in her and her family's lives using an unusual style reminiscent of notes taken while composing the novel. Newman's third novel, ''The Country of Ice Cream Star'' (2014), was among eighty titles nominated for 2015

Folio Prize The Rathbones Folio Prize, previously known as the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017 the sponsor is ...

, and among twenty works nominated for the 2015

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

. The novel follows the protagonist, Ice Cream Fifteen Star, through a

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

future United States while she searches for a cure for her brother's inherited disease. Her fourth novel, ''The Heavens'' (2019), published by

Grove Atlantic Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself "An ...

, tells the story of a woman who lives in the early twenty-first century, but who returns every night in dreams to Elizabethan England, where she lives as

Emilia Lanier Emilia Lanier (also Aemilia or Amelia Lanyer, 1569–1645), ''née'' Aemilia Bassano, was an English poet and the first woman in England to assert herself as a professional poet, through her volume ''Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum'' (''Hail, God, King ...

, a Jewish poet whose circle of acquaintances includes an obscure poet named

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. The ''New York Times Book Review'' called it “a strange and beautiful hybrid.” She is the author of one additional novel, ''Cake'' (2008); a memoir, ''Changeling'' (2010); and a guide to Western literature, ''The Western Lit Survival Kit: How To Read The Classics Without Fear'' (2012). She is the co-author of ''How Not To Write A Novel'' (2008) and ''Read This Next'' (2010). Her fifth novel, ''The Men'' (2022), published by Grove Atlantic, recounts a story in which all people with a

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

vanish from the face of the Earth. The book was controversial, with some critical of its focus on biology and exclusion of

trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

. However, in ''The Telegraph'', Claire Allfree cites discussion of trans women in the book, and in ''Publishers Weekly,'' David Varno says "''The Men'' is at once accessible and surprisingly complex," and notes that "trans characters do feature in it." In a review for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', Jessa Crispin described ''The Men'' as "the most ill-conceived and badly executed novel of the year". In ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', Erica Wagner wrote that the novel was a "confused and confusing book, a tangled mess of threads that never knit up into a satisfying whole." In ''The Spectator'', Sarah Ditum called The Men "a gripping, haunting novel," and in ''The Telegraph'', Nina Power called it "compelling and enjoyable."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Sandra 1965 births Living people Alumni of the University of Westminster Alumni of the University of East Anglia 21st-century American novelists American women novelists 21st-century American women writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers