Penelope Lively is the author of many prize-winning novels and short-story collections for both adults and children. She has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize: once in 1977 for her first novel, The Road to Lichfield, and again in 1984 for According to Mark. She later won the 1987 Booker Prize for her highly acclaimed novel Moon Tiger.
She is a popular writer for children and has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award. She was appointed CBE in the 2001 New Year's Honours List, and DBE in 2012. Penelope Lively lives in London. She was married to Jack Lively, who died in 1998.
She is a popular writer for children and has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award. She was appointed CBE in the 2001 New Year's Honours List, and DBE in 2012. Penelope Lively lives in London. She was married to Jack Lively, who died in 1998.
Genres: Literary Fiction, Romance
Novels
Astercote (1970)
The Whispering Knights (1971)
The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy (1971)
aka The Wild Hunt of the Ghost Hounds
The Driftway (1972)
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973)
The House in Norham Gardens (1974)
Going Back (1975)
A Stitch in Time (1976)
Fanny's Sister (1976)
The Road to Lichfield (1977)
The Voyage of QV 66 (1978)
Treasures of Time (1979)
Judgement Day (1980)
The Revenge of Samuel Stokes (1981)
Next to Nature, Art (1982)
Perfect Happiness (1983)
According to Mark (1984)
Moon Tiger (1987)
The City of the Mind (1988)
Passing On (1989)
Cleopatra's Sister (1993)
Heat Wave (1996)
Spiderweb (1998)
A House Unlocked (2001)
The Photograph (2003)
Making It Up (2005)
Consequences (2007)
Family Album (2009)
How It All Began (2011)
The Whispering Knights (1971)
The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy (1971)
aka The Wild Hunt of the Ghost Hounds
The Driftway (1972)
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973)
The House in Norham Gardens (1974)
Going Back (1975)
A Stitch in Time (1976)
Fanny's Sister (1976)
The Road to Lichfield (1977)
The Voyage of QV 66 (1978)
Treasures of Time (1979)
Judgement Day (1980)
The Revenge of Samuel Stokes (1981)
Next to Nature, Art (1982)
Perfect Happiness (1983)
According to Mark (1984)
Moon Tiger (1987)
The City of the Mind (1988)
Passing On (1989)
Cleopatra's Sister (1993)
Heat Wave (1996)
Spiderweb (1998)
A House Unlocked (2001)
The Photograph (2003)
Making It Up (2005)
Consequences (2007)
Family Album (2009)
How It All Began (2011)
Collections
Nothing Missing But the Samovar (1978)
Uninvited Ghosts (1984)
Pack of Cards (1986)
A Long Night at Abu Simbel (1995)
Lost Dog and Other Stories (1996)
Stories for 6-Year-Olds (1997) (with Scoular Anderson, Ruth Craft, Helen Cresswell, Gareth Owen and Shoo Rayner)
Beyond the Blue Mountains (1997)
The Five Thousand and One Nights (1997)
Spooky Stories (2008) (with Gillian Cross and Mary Hoffman)
The Purple Swamp Hen (2016)
Metamorphosis (2021)
Uninvited Ghosts (1984)
Pack of Cards (1986)
A Long Night at Abu Simbel (1995)
Lost Dog and Other Stories (1996)
Stories for 6-Year-Olds (1997) (with Scoular Anderson, Ruth Craft, Helen Cresswell, Gareth Owen and Shoo Rayner)
Beyond the Blue Mountains (1997)
The Five Thousand and One Nights (1997)
Spooky Stories (2008) (with Gillian Cross and Mary Hoffman)
The Purple Swamp Hen (2016)
Metamorphosis (2021)
Picture Books
Novellas
Chapter Books
Boy Without a Name (1975)
The Stained Glass Window (1976)
Fanny and the Monsters (1979)
Dragon Trouble (1984)
A House Inside Out (1987)
Judy and the Martian (1992)
The Cat, the Crow, and the Banyan Tree (1994)
A Martian Comes to Stay (1995)
Staying with Grandpa (1995)
Ghostly Guests (1997)
Debbie and the Little Devil (2000)
A Martian in the Supermarket (2002)
The Stained Glass Window (1976)
Fanny and the Monsters (1979)
Dragon Trouble (1984)
A House Inside Out (1987)
Judy and the Martian (1992)
The Cat, the Crow, and the Banyan Tree (1994)
A Martian Comes to Stay (1995)
Staying with Grandpa (1995)
Ghostly Guests (1997)
Debbie and the Little Devil (2000)
A Martian in the Supermarket (2002)
Anthologies edited
Non fiction
The Presence of the Past (1976)
Jacaranda, Oleander (1994)
In Search of a Homeland, the Story of the Aeneid (2001)
Ammonites and Leaping Fish (2013)
Dancing Fish and Ammonites (2014)
Life in the Garden (2017)
Jacaranda, Oleander (1994)
In Search of a Homeland, the Story of the Aeneid (2001)
Ammonites and Leaping Fish (2013)
Dancing Fish and Ammonites (2014)
Life in the Garden (2017)
Anthologies containing stories by Penelope Lively
The Literary Ghost (1991)
The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1996)
The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (2000)
The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1996)
The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (2000)
Short stories
Revenant as Typewriter (1978) | |||
Uninvited Ghosts [short story] (1981) |
Awards
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Penelope Lively recommends

An Experiment in Love (1995)
Hilary Mantel
"It is vivid. It is moving and entertaining in equal measures. Buy it and find out for yourself."

Larry's Party (1997)
Carol Shields
"A brilliant fictional reflection on what it may be like to be a man in the late twentieth century."

Those Who Save Us (2004)
Jenna Blum
"I was much impressed. A powerful evocation of terrible events, moving and persuasive. A remarkable first novel, with memorable characters."

Only Human (2004)
Susie Boyt
"She has a deft touch... Boyt is a dab hand at dialogue... there is much here to enjoy."

22 Britannia Road (2011)
Amanda Hodgkinson
"A most accomplished first novel. Powerful story-telling and entirely convincing in its evocation of post-war England. Very good."

A Single Thread (2019)
Tracy Chevalier
"I enjoyed A Single Thread enormously. Tracy Chevalier wonderfully evokes the social climate of the nineteen thirties this is the intriguing story of a young woman facing the conventions and prejudices of the day, told with a wealth of detail and narrative intensity."

The Mission House (2020)
Carys Davies
"A compelling read. Carys Davies has an amazing gift for summoning up a place, a situation, the characters. Her skill is that of brevity, nailing a personality with a few lines of dialogue, saying most by saying least."

Winchelsea (2022)
Alex Preston
"I was riveted. Winchelsea is a great read - terrific narrative drive, credible characters, and such an elegant creation of the backdrop in terms of both time and place."
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