Joan Aiken facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joan Aiken
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Aiken at The Hermitage, her home, in 1984
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| Born | Joan Delano Aiken 4 September 1924 Rye, Sussex, England |
| Died | 4 January 2004 (aged 79) Petworth, Sussex |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Period | 1955–2004 |
| Genre | Alternative history, children's literature, supernatural fiction |
| Notable works | The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Wolves Chronicles) |
| Notable awards | Guardian Prize 1969 |
| Spouse |
Ronald George Brown
(m. 1945; died 1955)Julius Goldstein
(m. 1976; died 2001) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Conrad Aiken (father) Jane Aiken Hodge (sister) |
Joan Delano Aiken MBE (born September 4, 1924 – died January 4, 2004) was an English writer. She was known for her stories that often included magic or were set in different versions of history. She wrote many books for both children and adults.
In 1999, Joan Aiken received an award called the MBE for her great contributions to children's books. She won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1968 for her book The Whispering Mountain. This award is given to the best children's book by a British writer. She also won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1972 for her book Night Fall.
About Joan Aiken
Early Life and Family
Joan Aiken was born in Rye, Sussex, England, on September 4, 1924. Her father was Conrad Aiken, a famous American poet who won a Pulitzer Prize. Her older brother, John Aiken, was also a writer and chemist. Her older sister, Jane Aiken Hodge, was also a writer.
Joan's mother, Jessie MacDonald, was from Canada and had a master's degree. Joan's parents separated in 1929. Her mother then married the English writer Martin Armstrong in 1930. Joan, her brother John, and her sister Jane later wrote a short book about their father called Conrad Aiken Remembered.
Education and First Writings
Joan Aiken was taught at home by her mother until she was twelve years old. From 1936 to 1940, she attended Wychwood School for girls. She did not go to university.
Joan loved writing stories from a young age. She finished her first full-length novel when she was sixteen. When she was seventeen, her first short story for adults was accepted for publication. In 1941, her first children's story was even broadcast on the BBC's Children's Hour radio show.
Work and Marriage
From 1943 to 1949, Joan Aiken worked for the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in London. In September 1945, she married Ronald George Brown, a journalist who also worked at UNIC. They had two children together. Sadly, Ronald died in 1955.
After her husband passed away, Joan Aiken started working for a magazine called Argosy. She said that working there helped her learn a lot about writing. She published many short stories in this magazine and others between 1955 and 1960. During this time, she also published her first two collections of children's stories. She began working on a children's novel, which was later published in 1962 as The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
After this, she was able to write full-time from home. She wrote two or three books every year for the rest of her life. Most of these were children's books and thrillers. She also wrote many articles and gave talks about children's literature.
In 1976, Joan Aiken married Julius Goldstein, a landscape painter and teacher from New York. They split their time between her home in Petworth, Sussex, and New York. Julius died in 2001.
Later Life and Legacy
In September 1999, Joan Aiken was honored with the title Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Joan Aiken passed away at her home in 2004, at the age of 79. She is remembered for her many wonderful stories that continue to be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
Joan Aiken's Books
Joan Aiken wrote over a hundred books! These included many collections of fantasy stories, plays, poems, and novels for adults and children. She especially loved ghost stories.
Spine-Chilling and Supernatural Stories
Some of her books are about spooky or supernatural events. These include The Windscreen Weepers (a collection of stories from 1969), The Shadow Guests (a novel from 1980), and A Whisper in the Night (stories from 1982).
Her adult supernatural novel, The Haunting of Lamb House, is set at Lamb House in Rye. This ghost story is based on an old tale about two famous writers, Henry James and E. F. Benson, who used to live there and also wrote ghost stories.
The Wolves Chronicles
Many of Joan Aiken's most popular books are part of a series called the Wolves Chronicles. This series is also known as The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series. These books are set in an interesting alternative history of Britain. In this made-up history, King James II was never removed from the throne. Instead, people who supported a different royal family, the House of Hanover, kept trying to overthrow the monarchy.
These books also play with the geography of London, adding new features like a Canal District. In this world, wolves have even invaded Britain from Europe through a newly built Channel Tunnel! The novels feature different main characters who are often linked to each other. These include Bonnie Green, her adventurous friend Simon, and Simon's brave friend Dido Twite. Dido Twite is the hero of most of the books. Later, her half-sister Is and Owen Hughes also become important characters.
One reviewer mentioned that while you can read the books in the 'Wolves' series on their own, it's often more fun to read them in order to understand the full story.
Arabel and Mortimer Series
Joan Aiken also wrote a popular series of children's books about a girl named Arabel and her pet raven, Mortimer. These books were illustrated by the famous artist Quentin Blake. Other books by Joan Aiken were illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski and Pat Marriott. Jan Pieńkowski won a special award, the Greenaway Medal, for his illustrations in The Kingdom Under the Sea and Other Stories (1971), which was a collection of fairy tales retold by Aiken.
Other Writings
Joan Aiken also wrote many novels for adults. Some of these continued or added to stories by the famous author Jane Austen. Examples include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.
Selected Books
Wolves Chronicles
The Wolves Chronicles books vary in length. Here they are listed in the order they happen in the story, along with their main characters.
Main Series
- The Whispering Mountain (1968) – This book is a prequel, meaning it happens before the main series.
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962) – Features Bonnie Green, Sylvia Green, and Simon.
- Black Hearts in Battersea (1964) – Features Dido Twite and Simon.
- Nightbirds on Nantucket (1966) – Features Dido Twite.
- The Stolen Lake (1981) – Features Dido Twite.
- Limbo Lodge (U.S. title: Dangerous Games) (1999) – Features Dido Twite.
- The Cuckoo Tree (1971) – Features Dido Twite.
- Dido and Pa (1986) – Features Dido and Is Twite.
- Is (U.S. title: Is Underground) (1992) – Features Is Twite.
- Cold Shoulder Road (1995) – Features Is Twite.
- Midwinter Nightingale (2003) – Features Dido Twite and Simon.
- The Witch of Clatteringshaws (2005) – Features Dido Twite and Simon.
Related Novels
- Midnight Is a Place (1976)
This novel seems to take place in the same fictional world as the Wolves Chronicles. A place called Blastburn, which is in this book, is also mentioned as the location of Mrs. Brisket's orphanage in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. This story is set in a time that looks like the Victorian era, with a focus on factories and industry.
Arabel and Mortimer Series
Paget Family Series
Felix Trilogy
"Jane Austen" Novels
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Other Books
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- Cano, Marina. Jane Austen and Performance. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. Chapter 7, 'Women's Rewritings,' looks at Aiken's Austen sequels. .
- Joan Aiken at the Internet Book List
See also
In Spanish: Joan Aiken para niños
