Siân Elizabeth Busby (19 November 1960 – 4 September 2012) was a British writer.

Early life and career

The daughter of the Canadian actor

Tom Busby Tom Busby (7 November 1936 – 20 September 2003) was a Canadian actor and agent. Among his film credits were ''The War Lover'' (1962); ''The Dirty Dozen'' (1967) as Milo Vladek, one of the dozen; and ''Heavenly Pursuits'' (1986). Biography ...

and Wendy Russell, Siân Busby was educated at Creighton School in

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchl ...

, north London, and read English at

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

.Obituary: Siân Busby
telegraph.co.uk, 6 September 2012 After embarking in a career in arts television, she later switched to writing. Her first two books were non-fiction. ''A Wonderful Little Girl'' (2003) concerned a Welsh child whose apparent ability to survive without nourishment led doctors to term the condition

anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

, while ''The Cruel Mother'' (2004) was a semi-autobiographical account of child murder by one of Busby's ancestors.Cassandra Jardine
"Sian Busby: My husband Robert Peston, the workaholic 'oracle'"
telegraph.co.uk, 26 May 2009. ''McNaughten'' (2009) concerned a mentally unstable 19th-century woodcutter who was accused of attempting to assassinate Sir

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

Daniel M'Naghten Daniel M'Naghten (sometimes spelled McNaughtan or McNaughton) (1813 – 3 May 1865) was a Scottish woodturner who assassinated English civil servant Edward Drummond while suffering from paranoid delusions. Through his trial and its aftermath, ...

, a genuine historical figure, had instead shot and fatally injured

Edward Drummond Edward Drummond (30 March 1792 – 25 January 1843) was a British civil servant, and was Personal Secretary to several British Prime Ministers. He was fatally shot by Daniel McNaughton, whose subsequent trial gave rise to the McNaughton rules, t ...

, Peel's private secretary. Significant in case law, the M'Naghten rules resulted from his acquittal at the subsequent trial.on the grounds of insanity. Another book, ''Who Was Boudicca, Warrior Queen'' (2006), was written for children. Busby was diagnosed as suffering from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

in 2007. She had finished her last book, a novel ''A Commonplace Killing'', shortly before she died from the disease in 2012. The book, describing the investigation into the murder of a woman in post-war London, was published in May 2013 and featured as

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' ...

's ''

Book at Bedtime ''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00. The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...

'' in June of the same year.

Private life

From 1998, Busby was married to

Robert Peston Robert James Kenneth Peston (born 25 April 1960) is an English journalist, presenter, and author. He is the political editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show '' Peston'' (previously '' Peston on Sunday''). From 2006 ...

, the BBC's former business editor; the couple had a son, Max, born the year before they married. Peston and Busby had known each other since their teens, and only rekindled their relationship after her friend, Peston's sister Juliet, was hospitalised following a road accident. In the meantime, Busby had married and been divorced from the Dutch film maker Kees Ryninks, with whom she also had a son. Busby died in September 2012 from lung cancer, after a long illness.

Bibliography

* ''A Wonderful Little Girl: The True Story of Sarah Jacob, the Welsh Fasting Girl'' (2003) * ''The Cruel Mother'' (2004) * ''Boudicca (Who Was...?)'' (2006) * ''McNaughten'' (2009) * ''A Commonplace Killing'' (2014)

References

External links

* * Siân Busby
"Nick Clegg should get his history right about reform"
''Evening Standard'', 3 June 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Busby, Sian 1960 births 2012 deaths People from Muswell Hill British people of Welsh descent British people of Canadian descent English non-fiction writers English women novelists 21st-century British novelists Deaths from lung cancer Sian Busby Sian Busby 21st-century English women writers