William Horwood (born 12 May 1944 in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) is an English novelist. He grew up on the East Kent coast, primarily in Deal, within a family fractious with "parental separation, secret illegitimacy, alcoholism and genteel poverty". Between the ages of six and ten, he was raised in foster care, attended school in Germany for a year, then went on to Grammar School at age eleven. In his eighteenth year, he attended Bristol University to study geography, after which he had any number of jobs—fundraising and teaching, among others, as well as editing for the ''London Daily Mail''. In 1978, at age 34, he retired from the newspaper in order to pursue novel-writing as his primary career, inspired by some long-ago reading of

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...

's ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in '' The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels an ...

''. His first novel, ''

Duncton Wood ''Duncton Wood'' is the first novel by English author William Horwood. It is the first of a six-volume fantasy series of the same name. Series overview ''Duncton Wood'' and its sequels have as its protagonists anthropomorphic moles living i ...

'', an allegorical tale about a community of

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

s, was published in 1980. It was followed by two sequels, forming ''The Duncton Chronicles'', and also a second trilogy, ''The Book of Silence''. William Horwood has also written two stand-alone novels intertwining the lives of humans and of eagles (''The Stonor Eagles'' and ''Callanish''), and ''The Wolves of Time'' duology. '' Skallagrigg,'' his 1987 novel about disability, love, and trust, was made into a BBC film in 1994. In addition, he has written a number of sequels to the 1908 novel ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'' by

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as '' The Reluctant Dragon''. Both books w ...

. ''Boy with No Shoes,'' published in August 2004, is a fictionalised memoir that explores challenging themes of childhood in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. In 2007, he collaborated with historian

Helen Rappaport Helen F. Rappaport (née Ware; born June 1947), is a British author and former actress. She specialises in the Victorian era and revolutionary Russia. Early life and education Rappaport was born Helen Ware in Bromley, grew up near the River Med ...

to produce ''Dark Hearts of Chicago'', a historical mystery and thriller set in nineteenth-century Chicago. It was re-published in 2008 as ''City of Dark Hearts'' with some significant revisions and cuts under the pen name James Conan. After almost fifteen years, Horwood returned to his hallmark genre of fantasy, publishing the first novel in his ''Hyddenworld'' quartet in 2010. Each novel is thematically based on a season — the first is ''Hyddenworld: Spring'', the next to be published was ''Hyddenworld: Awakening'' followed by ''Hyddenworld: Harvest'' and ''Hyddenworld: Winter'' and deals with the adventures of a cast of humans and '' ('little folk,' with some distinct fae overtones) on a quest to find gems holding the powers of the season for which each is named. "If they can be brought together they may combine to re-kindle the fires of a dying universe."

Bibliography

''The Duncton Chronicles''

# ''

'' (1980) # ''Duncton Quest'' (1988) # ''Duncton Found'' (1989)

''The Book of Silence''

# ''Duncton Tales'' (1991) # ''Duncton Rising'' (1992) # ''Duncton Stone'' (1993)

''The Wolves of Time''

# ''Journeys to the Heartland'' (Hardcover 1995, Paperback 1996) # ''Seekers at the Wulfrock'' (Hardcover 1997, Paperback 1998)

''Tales of the Willows''

* ''The Willows in Winter'' (Hardcover 1993) * ''Toad Triumphant'' (Hardcover 1995) * ''The Willows and Beyond'' (Hardcover 1996) * '' The Willows at Christmas'' (Hardcover 1999)

''Hyddenworld''

* ''Hyddenworld: Spring'' (Spring 2010) * ''Hyddenworld: Awakening'' (2011) * ''Hyddenworld: Harvest'' (2012) * ''Hyddenworld: Winter'' (2013)

Standalone Novels

* ''The Stonor Eagles'' (Hardcover 1982, Paperback 1983) * ''Callanish'' (Hardcover 1984, Paperback 1985) * '' Skallagrigg'' (Hardcover 1987, Paperback 1988) * ''The Boy With No Shoes'' (Hardcover 2004, Paperback 2005) * ''Dark Hearts of Chicago'' (2007) with

References

Official William Horwood Website

External links

- Official William Horwood Website

WilliamHorwood.net – Links Related to William Horwood's Books

Interview with William Horwood regarding ''The Willows at Christmas''
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Harper Collins Publishers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horwood, William 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists English children's writers 1944 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol People from Deal, Kent English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers