Sharon Kay Penman (1945–2021)
Author of Here Be Dragons
About the Author
Sharon Kay Penman was born in New York City on August 13, 1945. She received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law. She worked as a tax lawyer before becoming a full-time writer. She wrote The Sunne in show more Splendour, which chronicled the life of Richard III, while she was a student and a tax lawyer. After finishing the manuscript, her only copy was stolen from her car. She eventually rewrote the book and it was published in 1982. Her other works include Here Be Dragons, The Reckoning, When Christ and His Saints Slept, The Queen's Man, Cruel as the Grave, Dragon's Lair, Prince of Darkness, Lionheart and A King's Ransom. She won the 2001 Career Achievement Award for Historical Mysteries from Romantic Times. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: © William Penman, Jr.
Series
Works by Sharon Kay Penman
A Queen in Exile 1 copy
Justin de Quincy 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Penman, Sharon Kay
- Birthdate
- 1945-08-13
- Date of death
- 2021-01-22
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
- Cause of death
- pneumonia
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
New Jersey, USA - Education
- University of Texas, Austin (BA ∙ History)
Rutgers University (JD) - Occupations
- lawyer
historical novelist - Agent
- Molly Friedrich (Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency)
Mic Cheetham (Anthony Sheil Associates, Ltd.) - Short biography
- Sharon Kay Penman was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. She majored in history at the University of Texas at Austin, and received a law degree from Rutgers University School of Law. She worked as a tax lawyer before becoming a writer. While still a student, she started to research and write her first novel, The Sunne in Splendour (1982), a fictional account of the life of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III of England. However, after the only copy of her manuscript was stolen from her car, she was devastated and gave up writing for several years. Eventually she was inspired to begin again, and 12 years later, while practicing law at the same time, had produced the 936-page novel. In the early 1980s, she began publishing the "Welsh Trilogy" of historical novels set in medieval Wales. It was followed by the "Plantagenet series," novels about the life of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. In 1996, she published the first in a series of medieval mystery novels, The Queen's Man. It was named a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America.
Members
Discussions
Rest in Peace Sharon Kay Penman in Historical Fiction (September 2021)
Chronological Sharon Kay Penman Books Challenge in Historical Fiction (August 2021)
Sharon Kay Penman in Historical Fiction (February 2017)
GROUP READ: Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman in 2013 Category Challenge (November 2013)
GROUP READ: Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman in 2013 Category Challenge (September 2013)
2013 GROUP READ Dicussion - When Christ and His Saints Slept in 2013 Category Challenge (February 2013)
Reviews
Lists
Historical Fiction (10)
Five star books (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 20
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 17,772
- Popularity
- #1,239
- Rating
- 4.2
- Reviews
- 494
- ISBNs
- 181
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 186