Caroline Lawrence | |
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Born | 1954 |
Genres | Historical fiction, children's literature, detective fiction |
Notable works | The Roman Mysteries , The P.K. Pinkerton Mysteries |
Caroline Lawrence (born 1954) is an English American children's author, best known for The Roman Mysteries , a series of historical novels following four child detectives in Ancient Rome. The series has won numerous awards and has been published in many different languages worldwide. [1] Lawrence is also known for her historical mystery series called The P.K. Pinkerton Mysteries (or The Western Mysteries), set in Virginia City, Nevada Territory in the early 1860s. [2]
Lawrence was born in London, England. Her American parents returned to the United States shortly afterwards and she grew up in Bakersfield, California with her younger brother and sister. [3] Her father was Jewish. [4] Her mother was an artist and her father taught French and Drama at a middle school. [3]
When she was twelve, Lawrence's family moved to Stanford University in northern California so that her father could study Linguistics. She afterwards studied Classics at Berkeley, where she won a Marshall Scholarship to Cambridge. [5] There, at Newnham College, she studied Classical Art and Archaeology. [3]
After Cambridge, Lawrence remained in England, and later took an MA in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London. [6] She then taught Latin, French and Art at a small London primary school. [4]
In 2000, she wrote The Thieves of Ostia, which was published in 2001, the first in a series of children's mystery-adventure stories set in Ancient Rome, called The Roman Mysteries. The 17 book series has sold over a million copies in the United Kingdom and has been translated into 14 languages. The books were adapted as a TV series by the BBC from 2007-2008. [1] Lawrence went on to write several sequels, spin-offs and companion books. [5]
In 2009, Lawrence won the Classical Association Prize of £5000 for "a significant contribution to the public understanding of Classics". [7] Lawrence has also worked on the University of Reading's educational website Romans Revealed, creating stories about Roman Britain closely based on archaeological finds. [8] In 2013, she was chosen to be President of JACT (The Joint Association of Classical Teachers) following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson, Bettany Hughes and Paul Cartledge. [1]
Lawrence has a son, Simon, from a previous marriage, and she now lives by the Thames in London with her husband Richard, a graphic designer. [9]
Associated non-fiction books include: