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Sharon Kay Penman was born in New York City on August 13, 1945. She received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law. She worked as a tax lawyer before becoming a full-time writer. She wrote The Sunne in Splendour, which chronicled the life of Richard III, while she was a student and a tax lawyer. After finishing the manuscript, her only copy was stolen from her car. She eventually rewrote the book and it was published in 1982. Her other works include Here Be Dragons, The Reckoning, When Christ and His Saints Slept, The Queen's Man, Cruel as the Grave, Dragon's Lair, Prince of Darkness, Lionheart and A King's Ransom. She won the 2001 Career Achievement Award for Historical Mysteries from Romantic Times. (Bowker Author Biography) — biography from Here Be Dragons… (more)
Here Be Dragons 2,480 copies, 59 reviews
The Sunne in Splendour 2,311 copies, 73 reviews
When Christ and His Saints Slept 2,001 copies, 62 reviews
Falls the Shadow 1,479 copies, 28 reviews
The Reckoning 1,318 copies, 20 reviews
Time and Chance 1,286 copies, 41 reviews
The Queen's Man 1,243 copies, 32 reviews
Cruel as the Grave 963 copies, 11 reviews
Devil's Brood 917 copies, 38 reviews
Lionheart 861 copies, 55 reviews
Dragon's Lair 807 copies, 14 reviews
Prince of Darkness 651 copies, 15 reviews
A King's Ransom 440 copies, 29 reviews
The Land Beyond the Sea 187 copies, 10 reviews
Dangerous Women (Contributor) 1,045 copies, 47 reviews
Dangerous Women 2 (Contributor) 80 copies

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Short biography
Sharon Kay Penman was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. She majored in history at the University of Texas at Austin, and received a law degree from Rutgers University School of Law. She worked as a tax lawyer before becoming a writer. While still a student, she started to research and write her first novel, The Sunne in Splendour (1982), a fictional account of the life of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III of England. However, after the only copy of her manuscript was stolen from her car, she was devastated and gave up writing for several years. Eventually she was inspired to begin again, and 12 years later, while practicing law at the same time, had produced the 936-page novel. In the early 1980s, she began publishing the "Welsh Trilogy" of historical novels set in medieval Wales. It was followed by the "Plantagenet series," novels about the life of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. In 1996, she published the first in a series of medieval mystery novels, The Queen's Man. It was named a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America.
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Sharon Kay Penman is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.

Sharon Kay Penman / Sharonkay profile

LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alum

Sharon Kay Penman's book A King's Ransom was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Sharon Kay Penman's book Lionheart was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Author Chat

Sharon Kay Penman chatted with LibraryThing members from Aug 10, 2009 to Aug 21, 2009. Read the chat.

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