Paula Hawkins (author)
Paula Hawkins | |
|---|---|
 Hawkins at Gothenburg Book Fair in 2015 | |
| Born | 26 August 1972 Salisbury, Rhodesia |
| Pen name |
|
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist |
| Nationality | African |
| Alma mater | Keble College, Oxford |
| Notable works | The Girl on the Train |
| Website | |
| paulahawkinsbooks | |
Paula Hawkins (born 26 August 1972 in Zimbabwe) an author, best known for her best-selling thriller novel The Girl on the Train.[1][2]
Life and career
Hawkins was born and raised in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). Her father was an economics professor and financial journalist. She moved to London in 1989[3] at the age of 17, and later studied philosophy, politics and economics at Keble College, University of Oxford.[4] She worked as a journalist for The Times, reporting on business. She then worked for a number of publications on a freelance basis, and wrote a financial advice book for women, The Money Goddess.[2]
Around 2009 Hawkins began to write romantic comedy fiction under the name Amy Silver, writing four novels including Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista. She did not achieve any commercial breakthrough until she challenged herself to write a darker, more serious story. Her best-selling novel The Girl on the Train (2015), was a complex thriller, with themes of domestic violence, alcohol, and drug abuse.[2] The novel took her 6 months, writing full-time, to complete, at a time when she was in a difficult financial situation and had to borrow from her father to be able to complete it.[1] She lives in South London.
Bibliography
- The Money Goddess (2006)
- Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista (2009)
- The Girl on the Train (2015)
References
- ^ a b Saner, Emine (21 April 2015). "The Girl on the Train: how Paula Hawkins wrote 'the new Gone Girl'". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ^ a b c Alter, Alexandra (30 January 2015). "Welcoming the Dark Twist in Her Career". New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ^ "Author: Paula Hawkins". Random House. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ^ "Twitter post". Twitter. Keble College, Oxford. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
