Tracy Rose Chevalier (born 19 October 1962) is an American-British novelist. She is best known for her second novel, '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'', which was adapted as a 2003 film starring

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

and

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

Personal background

Chevalier was born on 19 October 1962, in

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She is the daughter of Douglas and Helen (née Werner) Chevalier. Her father was a photographer who worked with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' for more than 30 years. Her mother died in 1970, when Chevalier was eight years old. Chevalier has an older sister, Kim Chevalier, who resides in

Soulan Soulan (; oc, Solan de Coserans) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Soulan are called ''Soulanais''. See also *Communes of the Ariège department The following is a list of the 327 ...

, France; and a brother, Michael Chevalier, who lives in

Salida, Colorado The City of Salida ( ; spanish language, Spanish: , "exit") is the Colorado municipalities#Statutory city, Statutory city that is the county seat and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality of Chaffee County, Colorado ...

. , Chevalier lives in London with her husband, Jonathan Drori. She graduated from

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) is a public high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is named for two of the towns it serves; it also serves Kensington and Silver Spring. It is located at 4301 East-West Highway, in Bethesda. In May ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, in 1980. After receiving her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in English from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1984, she moved to England, where she began working in publishing. In 1993, she began studying Creative Writing, earning a master's degree 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 ...

. Her tutors included novelists

Malcolm Bradbury Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, (7 September 1932 – 27 November 2000) was an English author and academic. Life Bradbury was born in Sheffield, the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 with ...

and

Rose Tremain Dame Rose Tremain (born 2 August 1943) is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. Life Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on 2 August 1943 in London to Viola Mabel Thomson and ...

Professional background

Following her graduation from Oberlin College, Chevalier moved to England, where she began working as an editorial assistant with Macmillan's Dictionary of Art, then later joined St. James Press, serving as a reference book editor. Her first novel, ''The Virgin Blue'', was published in the UK in 1997 and was chosen by

W H Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

for their showcase of new authors. Her second novel, entitled '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'', was published in 1999. The work, which was based on the famous painting by

Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...

, has been translated into 38 languages. As of 2014, it has sold over five million copies worldwide. It won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award in 2000. In 2003, a film based on the novel was released, receiving three

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations in 2004, along with ten

BAFTAs The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

and two

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

s. Her 2013 novel, ''The Last Runaway'' was honored with the Ohioana Book Award and was chosen for the

Richard and Judy Book Club ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

for autumn 2013. In 2011 she edited and contributed towards ''Why Willows Weep'', a collection of short stories by 19 authors, the sale of which raised money for the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...

, for which her husband served as a trustee. Other of her works that include historical figures as characters include.

William Lobb William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Johnny Appleseed John Chapman (September 26, 1774March 18, 1845), better known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Ontario, as well as the northern coun ...

in ''At the Edge of the Orchard'', and

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

in ''Burning Bright''.

Memberships

Chevalier has been involved in representing authors as a member of various community organizations. In 2006, she began serving as the chairperson for the Management Committee for the UK's

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and as ...

, serving in that capacity for two years. She served on the advisory board of the UK's

Public Lending Right A Public Lending Right (PLR) is a program intended to either compensate authors for the potential loss of sales from their works being available in public libraries or as a governmental support of the arts, through support of works available in p ...

from 2008 until 2015, while as serving as Patron of World Book Night. ''Girl with a Pearl Earring'' was chosen as one of the books given away in both the US and UK for World Book Night 2013. In 2015 she joined the British Library Board as a Trustee. She is also an Ambassador for the

, where her husband serves as a member of the board of directors.

Honors and awards

* 1997: WH Smith Fresh Talent for ''The Virgin Blue'' * 2000: Barnes and Noble Discover Award for ''Girl with a Pearl Earring'' * 2008: Fellow, Royal Society of Literature * 2013: Ohioana Book Award, for ''The Last Runaway'' * 2013: Richard and Judy Book Club book for ''The Last Runaway'' * 2013: Honorary Doctorate, Oberlin College and University of East Anglia

Works

* ''The Virgin Blue'' (1997) * '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (1999) * ''Falling Angels'' (2001) * ''The Lady and the Unicorn'' (2003) * ''Burning Bright'' (2007) * ''Remarkable Creatures'' (2009) * ''The Last Runaway'' (2013) * ''At the Edge of the Orchard'' (2016) * ''New Boy'' (2017) * ''A Single Thread'' (2019) ;As editor * ''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers'', 3rd edition, St. James Press, 1989, , * '' Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre'', 2016,

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chevalier, Tracy 1962 births Living people American historical novelists British historical novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni Oberlin College alumni Alumni of the University of East Anglia American expatriates in England Writers from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American women novelists 21st-century American women writers Women historical novelists