Jane Gardam facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jane Gardam OBE FRSL
Born	Jean Mary Pearson (1928-07-11)11 July 1928 Coatham, North Yorkshire, England
Died	28 April 2025(2025-04-28) (aged 96) Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire, England
Occupation	Writer critic
Alma mater	Bedford College, London
Period	1971–2014
Genre	List Children's fiction Adult fiction
Notable works	God on the Rocks The Queen of the Tambourine Old Filth
Notable awards	Phoenix Award Booker Prize BBC National Short Story Award
Spouse	David Gardam ​ ​ (m. 1954; died 2010)​
Children	3, including Tim

Jane Mary Gardam (born Jean Mary Pearson; 11 July 1928 – 28 April 2025) was an English writer. She wrote books for both children and adults. She also wrote reviews for newspapers like The Spectator and The Telegraph. She also created content for BBC Radio.

Jane Gardam lived in different parts of England, including Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She won many awards for her writing. These included the Whitbread Award twice. In 2009, she was honored with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her contributions to literature.

About Jane Gardam's Life

Jane Gardam was born Jean Mary Pearson in Coatham, North Yorkshire, on 11 July 1928. Her parents were William and Kathleen Mary Pearson. She grew up in areas like Cumberland and the North Riding of Yorkshire.

When she was seventeen, Jane won a scholarship. This allowed her to study English at Bedford College, London. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1949. After finishing university, Jane worked in several jobs related to books and writing.

She started as a Red Cross Travelling Librarian. This meant she helped provide books for hospital libraries. Later, she worked as a journalist. In 1954, she married David Gardam. They had three children: Tim, Catharine (Kitty), and Tom. Her husband, David, passed away in 2010.

Her First Book and Awards

Jane Gardam's first book was a children's novel called A Long Way From Verona. It was published in 1971. The story is told by a 13-year-old girl. In 1991, this book won the Phoenix Award. This award recognizes excellent children's books published twenty years earlier that didn't win a major award at the time.

In 1989, Jane Gardam was a judge for the Whitbread Book Award. This award is now known as the Costa Book Awards.

Later Novels and Recognition

In her later writing, Jane Gardam explored similar ideas and told stories from different viewpoints. She did this in three novels: Old Filth (2004), The Man in the Wooden Hat (2009), and Last Friends (2013).

Many people praised her work. One reviewer said Old Filth was excellent and very enjoyable to read. The Spectator magazine praised The Man in the Wooden Hat for its complex story and characters. They noted how skillfully Jane Gardam handled everything. In 2015, a BBC survey voted Old Filth as one of the 100 greatest British novels.

Jane Gardam passed away on 28 April 2025. She was 96 years old.

Jane Gardam's Books

Children's Books

• A Long Way from Verona (1971)
• A Few Fair Days (1971)
• The Summer After the Funeral (1973)
• Bridget and William (1981)
• The Hollow Land (1981) – This book won the 1983 Whitbread Children's Book Award.
• Horse (1982)
• Kit (1983)
• Kit in Boots (1986)
• Swan (1987)
• Through the Doll's House Door (1987)
• Black Woolly Pony (1993)
• Tufty Bear (1996)
• The Kit Stories (1998)

Short Story Collections

• Black Faces, White Faces (1975) – This collection won the David Higham Prize for Fiction and the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize in 1975.
• The Sidmouth Letters (1980)
• The Pangs of Love and Other Stories (1983) – This won the Katherine Mansfield Award in 1984.
• Showing the Flag and Other Stories (1989)
• Trio: Three Stories from Cheltenham (1993)
• Going into a Dark House (1994)
• Missing the Midnight (1997)
• The Green Man (1998)
• The People on Privilege Hill (2007) – This was nominated for the BBC National Short Story Award.
• The Stories of Jane Gardam (2014)

Novels for Adults

• Bilgewater (1977)
• God on the Rocks (1978) – This book was nominated for The Booker Prize in 1978.
• Crusoe's Daughter (1985)
• The Queen of the Tambourine (1991) – This won the Whitbread Novel Award in 1991.
• Faith Fox (1996)
• The Flight of the Maidens (2000)
• Old Filth (2004)
• The Man in the Wooden Hat (2009)
• Last Friends (2013) – This book was shortlisted for the 2014 Folio Prize.

Non-fiction Book

• The Iron Coast (1994)