Elliott, Patricia 1946-

Personal

Born 1946, in London, England; married; children: two sons. Education: Earned M.A., 1995.

Addresses

Home and office—London, England.

Career

Author. Teacher of children's literature at an adult education college. Formerly worked in publishing in London, England, and as a bookseller in New York, NY.

Awards, Honors

Fidler Award for first novel, Branford Boase Award shortlist, and West Sussex Children's Book Award shortlist, all for The Ice Boy; Guardian Children's Fiction Award longlist, and Best Novel Award nomination, British Fantasy Society, both for Murkmere.

Writings

FANTASY NOVELS; FOR YOUNG READERS

The Ice Boy, Hodder (London, England), 2002.

Murkmere, Hodder (London, England), 2004, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2006.

Ambergate, Hodder (London, England), 2005, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2006.

The Night Walker, Hodder (London, England), 2007.

Sidelights

Though Patricia Elliott was born in England, she spent much of her childhood living with her family in the Far East. "While we were abroad, there was no school in the afternoons, and I would spend my free time reading," Elliott recalled on the Time Warner Bookmark online. "When I ran out of books I wrote my own in pencil, in much-smudged exercise books." Although she continued writing, Elliott spent several years working in the publishing industry and as a bookseller before her first novel, The Ice Boy, was published. Her more recent novels include the young-adult fantasies Murkmere, Ambergate, and The Night Walker.

Based on a Norse legend, The Ice Boy follows the adventures of young Edward as he searches for his father, who was lost at sea. Though unable to discover his father's fate, Edward rescues a man from drowning, and then begins to have visions of an icy land located somewhere just beyond the horizon. Praised by critics, The Ice Boy won the Fidler Award for a first novel and was nominated for several others literary honors.

In Murkmere Elliott spins a gothic tale that focuses on the friendship between Leah, a fey girl who is the ward of the Master of Murkmere Hall, and Aggie, a villager chosen to be Leah's companion. When Aggie arrives at the hall, a bad omen, delivered by birds, accompanies her. Soon she realizes that, not only are dark things happening in the halls of Murkmere, but her employer may in fact be behind them all. Of even more concern to the girl, the faith she has practiced all her life may not be all she once assumed it to be. "There is plenty of suspense, and readers will not be able to put the book down," wrote Tasha Saecker in a review of Murkmere for School Library Journal. According to Kliatt contributor Claire Rosser, the author's use of "challenging vocabulary" and "concepts that stretch the mind of the reader" combine with Elliott's focus on the lives of "intrepid young women" to "win over readers." In Kirkus Reviews, a critic deemed the novel a "wonderfully atmospheric and moody" tale set firmly "on the border between fantasy and fiction."

Set in the same world as Murkmere, Ambergate is the story of Scruff, an orphan who escapes a crime she committed in the city by fleeing to Murkmere Hall. Un-

fortunately, when the law follows her, Scruff also flees Murkmere, only to become embroiled in a plot to assassinate the Lord Protector's son. "This is a beautiful, compelling novel," with "deftly drawn" characters and descriptions "worth a whole page of explanations," wrote Leslie Wilson in the London Guardian. A critic for Bookseller also praised Elliott's novel, describing Ambergate as "an intricate blend of mythology and symbolism."

As Elliott explained on Time Warner Bookmark, she draws on mythology—particularly Norse and Celtic myths—in her writing. She elaborated on the inspiration behind her novels in an essay posted on the Hachette Book Group USA Web site, writing that "all the superstitions in Murkmere can, in fact, be found in British folklore—I didn't have to invent anything, except the religion itself."

In an online interview with the West Sussex Grid for Learning Web site, Elliott acknowledged that she always wanted to be a writer. "I started writing when I was a child because I enjoyed reading so much and wanted to create the same ‘worlds’ as in the books I had just read and enjoyed," she said. "Nowadays the only difference is that I create my own worlds!"

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2006, Holly Koelling, review of Murkmere, p. 81.

Bookseller, February 18, 2005, review of Ambergate, p. 40.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2006, Karen Coats, review of Murkmere, p. 350.

Horn Book, March-April, 2006, Anita L. Burkham, review of Murkmere, p. 187.

Guardian (London, England), April 30, 2005, Leslie Wilson, review of Ambergate, p. 33.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2006, review of Murkmere, p. 83.

Kliatt, January, 2006, Claire Rosser, review of Murkmere, p. 7.

Publishers Weekly, February 20, 2006, review of Murkmere, p. 158.

School Librarian, autumn, 2004, Sarah Wilkie, review of Murkmere, p. 156; autumn, 2005, Griselda Greaves, review of Ambergate, p. 154.

School Library Journal, October, 2006, Tasha Saecker, review of Murkmere, p. 150.

Times (London, England), June 12, 2004, Amanda Craig, "Girls, Girls, Girls," p. 17.

ONLINE

Fantastic Fiction Web site,http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ (January 11, 2007), "Patricia Elliott."

Hachette Book Group USA Web site,http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/ (January 11, 2007), Patricia Elliott, "The Making of Murkmere."

Society of Authors Web site,http://www.societyofauthors.net/ (January 11, 2007), "Patricia Elliott."

Time Warner Bookmark, http://www.twbookmark.com/ (January 11, 2007), "Patricia Elliott."

West Sussex Grid for Learning Web site, http://wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ (September 20, 2004), interview with Elliott.