Emilia Hart is a British-Australian novelist.
Hart was born in Sydney and educated at Barker College. She studied law and English at the University of New South Wales and became a lawyer. In her mid-20s, she moved to London. Her grandfather is the novelist and playwright Barry Oakley. At 26, after suffering a stroke, she decided to write a novel. [1]
Hart began writing her debut novel, Weyward , while living in Cumbria, where the novel is set. She drew comparisons between the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 and the rise in violence against women during the COVID-19 lockdown, remarking that "the two seemed horribly linked". [2]
Weyward was published in the UK in February 2023, and in the United States in March 2023, where it became a New York Times bestseller. [3] It was described as an "entertaining read" by The Times . [4] Kirkus Reviews called it "thoughtful and at times harrowing". [5] On BBC's Between The Covers , it was praised as a "spellbinding debut novel". [6] In May 2023, The New York Times included the book in its summer roundup of historical fiction. [7]
Hart's second novel, The Sirens, was published on 13 February 2025. The novel, loosely based on various myths of sirens, mermaids and selkies, is set in Australia, Ireland and aboard a doomed 19th-century British prison ship bound for New South Wales. Like Weyward, this novel has several interconnected female narrators and blends historical fiction with magical realism and a contemporary take on traditional folk tales. [8]
Weyward won two Goodreads Choice Awards in December 2023, for Best Debut Novel and Best Historical Fiction, receiving 45,000 and 62,000 votes in each category, respectively. [9]