Irwin is the daughter of parents Mike and Louise Burks and grew up in Sherborne, Dorset.[1] Irwin attended the Gryphon School, completing her A Levels in 2013.[2][3] As a teenager, she worked in the local Winstone's bookshop.[4] She went on to graduate with a degree in English from Mansfield College, Oxford.[5] Having read Georgette Heyer and Jane Austen from a young age, Irwin wrote her dissertation on the popularity of the former during World War II.[2]
Career
Irwin began her career working as an editor in publishing.[6] She started writing what would become her debut novel in 2019.[2][7] In a two-book deal in 2021, HarperFiction (part of HarperCollins) acquired the rights to publish Irwin's debut Regency romance novel A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting in 2022.[8] The U.S. publishing rights went to Pamela Dorman Books.[9] The novel follows a young women Kitty Talbot who seeks a wealthy husband to pay off her late parents' debt. Irwin wanted to explore the economic side of marriage in Regency society.[6][10]A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting debuted at #3 on the Sunday Times bestseller list,[11] won an Alex Award, and was a RUSA Listen List selection.[12] A second novel set in the same universe titled A Lady's Guide to Scandal was published in 2023, presenting the opposite dynamic of a widow with money.[13][14]
HarperFiction acquired two further romance novels from Irwin in October 2023.[15] Her third novel How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days was published the following year.[16] Also in 2025, Irwin signed a deal with Century (a Penguin Random House UK imprint) to write a Georgette Heyer continuation.[17]
↑ "YALSA announces 2023 Alex Awards". News and Press Center. ALA American Library Association. 30 January 2023. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
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