Jill Dawson – författare

"Pacy and atmospheric…wickedly good."—Marie Claire (UK)

"Dawson''s heroine is so fresh and spirited that she carries the day."—Sunday Times (London)

Having already made waves in the United Kingdom, Lucky Bunny has come to America. Acclaimed poet and author Jill Dawson, whose previous novels have been shortlisted for England''s Whitbread Award and Orange Prize, now gives us the story of vivacious and endearing thief Queenie Dove, a Moll Flanders for World War II Britain. Brilliantly recreating mid-twentieth century London, from the bustling streets to the seamy underworld, from the Depression Era through the Blitz and into the 1950s, Lucky Bunny entangles readers in the adventurous life of a truly captivating anti-heroine, a self-proclaimed genius in the art of survival. Before the Krays, there was Queenie Dove… and readers will never forget her.

Crime''s a man''s business. So they say. Who was that small figure then, slender enough to trot along the moonlit track, swift and low, virtually invisible? Who was it that covered the green signal with a glove to stop the train, while the two others took care of the driver and his mate? Could it have been one Queenie Dove, survivor of the Depression and the Blitz, not to mention any number of scrapes with the law?Queenie Dove is a self-proclaimed genius when it comes to thieving and escape. Daring, clever and sexy, she ducked and dived through the streets of London from the East End through Soho to Mayfair, graduating from childhood shop-lifting to more glamorous crimes in the post-war decades. So was she wicked through and through, or more sinned against than sinning? Here she tells a vivacious tale of trickery and adventure, but one with more pain and heartbreak than its heroine cares to admit. Yes, luck often favoured her, but that is only part of the story.

LONGLISTED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE 2015One heart, two lives...When a teenager dies in an accident in rural Cambridgeshire, it affords Patrick, a fifty-year-old professor, drinker and womaniser, the chance of a life-saving heart transplant. But as Patrick recovers, he has the odd feeling that his old life ''won''t have him''. He becomes bewitched by the story of his heart, ever more curious about the boy who donated it, his ancestors, the Fenland he grew up in. What exactly has Patrick been given?

Drawing on the infamous Lord Lucan affair, this compelling novel explores the roots of a shocking murder from a fresh perspective and brings to vivid life an era when women''s voices all too often went unheard. In the summer of 1974, Mandy River arrives in London to make a fresh start and begins working as nanny to the children of one Lady Morven. She quickly finds herself in the midst of a bitter custody battle and the house under siege: Lord Morven is having his wife watched. According to Lady Morven, her estranged husband also has a violent streak, yet she doesn''t seem the most reliable witness. Should Mandy believe her? As Mandy edges towards her tragic fate, her friend Rosemary watches from the wings - an odd girl with her own painful past and a rare gift. This time, though, she misreads the signs.

''OUR MOST CONSUMMATE HISTORICAL NOVELIST'' Philip Hoare

''Brilliant''Paula Hawkins

''Breathtaking''Sadie Jones

''Devastating''The Times

''Terrific''Mail on Sunday

''Chilling''Daily Express

A dazzling, shocking novel that speaks to our times, drawing on the 16th-century case of the witches of Warboys.

Alice Samuel might be old and sharp-tongued, but she''s no fool. Visiting her new neighbours in her Fenland village, she finds Squire Throckmorton''s family troubled and, she suspects, not as God-fearing as they seem. Yet when one of the daughters accuses her of witchcraft, Alice has no idea of the danger she is in or how quickly matters will escalate.

The Throckmortons'' maid Martha, uneasy herself about strange goings-on in the household, is reluctant to believe that Alice is a witch. But as the entire village gets swept up in the frenzied persecution of one of their own, she struggles to find a voice . . .

PRAISE FOR JILL DAWSON

''A skilful storyteller''Hilary Mantel

''A magnificent writer''Cathy Rentzenbrink

''A spark fires throughout Dawson''s work''Guardian

''So gifted and assured''Daily Mail

In the summer of 1909, seventeen-year-old Nell Golightly is the new maid at the Orchard Tea Gardens in Cambridgeshire when Rupert Brooke moves in as a lodger. Famed for his looks and flouting of convention, the young poet captures the hearts of men and women alike, yet his own seems to stay intact. Even Nell, despite her good sense, begins to fall for him. What is his secret?This captivating novel gives voice to Rupert Brooke himself in a tale of mutual fascination and inner turmoil, set at a time of great social unrest. Revealing a man far more complex and radical than legend suggests, it powerfully conveys the allure - and curse - of charisma.

When Lily Waite, young and optimistic, puts Yorkshire behind her and arrives in London with her five-year-old son, she’s mysteriously lacking in home, husband or belongings. At first she’s in at the deep end, newly broke, newly a single parent, but soon things are going swimmingly and, after surprising herself by falling in love with her Jamaican neighbour, she eventually learns that losing everything can be a great place to start.