Publication details of Bilgewater:

1977

Other literary works include:

Black Faces, White Faces (1975) God on the Rocks (1978) Crusoe's Daughter (1985) The Queen of the Tambourine (1991) Faith Fox (1997)

Born:

11 July 1928, Cleveland, England.

Early years:

Jane Gardam (nee Pearson) was one of XX children, and was brought up by her parents, William and Kathleen Pearson. She married David Gardam in 1954, and had two sons and one daughter.

Schooling:

After attending Saltburn High School for Girls, Jane Gardam moved to Bedford College, and then on to London University where she studied XXX.

Career:

In a lengthy career, Gardam has become a well-established novelist. After spending a short time working as a Travelling Librarian with the Red Cross, in 1951 she became a Sub-Editor of Weldon's Ladies' Journal, which was published in Britain and Canada and provided fiction, household hints, and men's fashion news. Gardam then became an Assistant Literary Editor of Time and Tide (1952-54). Her first publications appear in 1971 with A Long Way From Verona, and A Few Fair Days (short story). Gardam has has won a number of prizes for her work, notably The Hollow Land (1981) a children's book which won the Whitbread Literary Award, and The Queen of the Tambourine (1991) which won the Whitbread Novel Award. Gardam has also written a number of prize-winning short stories, including Black Faces, White Faces (1975), which won both the David Highams Award and the Winifred Holtby Award, and The Pangs of Love (1983), which won the Katherine Mansfield Award. A common theme in Gardam's work is male and female sexuality.

Final years:

Gardam now lives with her husband in Sandwich, Kent.

Died: