Jill Paton Walsh (1937–2020)
Author of Thrones, Dominations
About the Author
Jill Paton Walsh was born Gillian Bliss on April 29, 1937 in London. She graduated from St. Anne's College in Oxford. She taught at the Enfield Girls' Grammar School for three years and was a permanent visiting faculty member for the Center for Children's Literature at Simmons College in Boston, show more Massachusetts. She was also an adjunct British board member of Children's Literature New England. She has written more than 15 books for children. She has won numerous awards including the Book World Festival Award for Fireweed in 1970, the Whitbread Prize for The Emperor's Winding Sheet in1974, the Universe Prize for A Parcel of Patterns in 1984, and the Smarties Grand Prix for Gaffer Samson's Luck in 1984. She has also written adult novels, including completing an unfinished Dorothy Sayers manuscript. Her adult works include Knowledge of Angels, The Serpentine Cave, and A School for Lovers. She is the author of the Imogen Quy Mystery series and the Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery series. She was elected as fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1996. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Jill Paton Walsh
The Green Book 7 copies
As my Wimsey takes me 1 copy
Set Piece [short fiction] 1 copy
Cosecha de guerra 1 copy
The Scold's Bridle 1 copy
Associated Works
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 8, April 1981 — Contributor — 3 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 7, March 1981 — Contributor — 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Walsh, Jill Paton
- Legal name
- Paton Walsh, Gillian
- Other names
- Bliss, Gillian Honorine Mary (birth name)
- Birthdate
- 1937-04-29
- Date of death
- 2020-10-18
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- North Finchley, London, England, UK
- Place of death
- Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Boston, Massachusetts, USA - Education
- St. Michael's Convent, North Finchley
University of Oxford (St Anne's College) - Occupations
- author
teacher - Relationships
- Townsend, John Rowe (husband)
Paton Walsh, Anthony (former husband)
Bliss, Christopher (brother) - Organizations
- Simmons College
- Awards and honors
- Order of the British Empire (Commander ∙ 1996)
Fellow, Royal Society of Literature - Short biography
- Born Gillian Bliss in London on 25 April 1937. Educated at St. Michael's Convent, North Finchley, and at St. Anne's College, Oxford. In 1961 she married Anthony Paton Walsh, who died in 2003. In 2004 she married writer John Rowe Townsend, who died in 2014. Her books included fiction for children and teenagers, crime fiction (including additional books about Dorothy L Sayers' character Lord Peter Wimsey) and other novels. She was a 'permanent visiting faculty member' of the Centre for Children's Literature, Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts from 1978 to 1986. In 1996 she received the CBE for services to literature, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She died in October 2020.
Members
Discussions
Found: YA - Earth dying, girl on spaceship to settle new planet in Name that Book (October 20)
Found: 1970s Book about Homeless Children in London Blitz in Name that Book (April 2021)
Children's book, journey to new planet, butterfly-like aliens in Name that Book (October 2011)
Reviews
I read this when I was 13, and it was the first time that I had encountered the idea that the future might not always mean forward progress, that there may be a limit to how far humanity can go before we regress. This really, really got inside my head, and to some extent it has changed how I view the future.
For the past 6 years I have been searching for this book, unable to recall the title or author. Now I've finally connected the story I remember with this book, and am the happy owner of a copy. It's like having a piece of my history back.
… (more)
For the past 6 years I have been searching for this book, unable to recall the title or author. Now I've finally connected the story I remember with this book, and am the happy owner of a copy. It's like having a piece of my history back.
… (more)
A young woman's account of the plague in Eyam, written in an attempt to exorcise her trauma, not that she put it like that, obviously, as the book's style and narrative voice did feel as if it could be authentically from the 17th century. The author captured the social and religious nuances well as the people were caught by the plague in the midst of a transition from strict Puritanism to the more easy-going ways of the Restoration.
The book is quite short at 135 pages, which is just as well as there are no chapter breaks.… (more)
The book is quite short at 135 pages, which is just as well as there are no chapter breaks.… (more)
I liked this book. It seemed like a good continuation of the Sayers mysteries. However, the mystery had places where some of the clues should have been obvious but weren't picked up on until later. I'm going to read at least one more of the books that Walsh has written
Lists
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 60
- Also by
- 19
- Members
- 7,460
- Popularity
- #3,279
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 235
- ISBNs
- 347
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 9
- Touchstones
- 251
Looking back, he sees how the Greek cities have cruelly persecuted the ones who have served them most ably. The story of Miltiades is harsher than his own: the hero of Marathon, succumbing to gangrene, is fined an horrendous sum, then dies, and his son is forced into penury. All this happens just one year after the battle.
The details of life in Athens: the bathing, the technical details of vote collection, the exhausting march back to Athens after the battle of Marathon, the evacuation of Athens before the battle of Salamis, etc., are well realized.… (more)