Williams, Stephanie 1948-

PERSONAL:

Born 1948, in Canada; married; children: two.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Doubleday, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Journalist. Has worked variously for theSunday Times, Wall Street Journal, and the New Statesman.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Hong Kong Bank: The Building of Norman Foster's Masterpiece, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1989.

London Docklands, Van Nostrand Reinhold (New York, NY), 1990.

Olga's Story: Three Continents, Two World Wars, and Revolution—One Woman's Epic Journey through the Twentieth Century (biography), Doubleday (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to such periodicals as the Sunday Times,Wall Street Journal, and the New Statesman.

SIDELIGHTS:

The daughter of an army officer, London-based journalist Stephanie Williams was born in Canada. Between her father's career and her own, she has traveled extensively, living in the United States, Hong Kong, and England. Her book Olga's Story: Three Continents, Two World Wars, and Revolution—One Woman's Epic Journey through the Twentieth Century, is a biography of Olga Yunter, Williams's Russian-born maternal grandmother. The book follows Olga from Russia to China and eventually to England, examining the turbulent history that accompanied her life and the adventures she had as a result of the time in which she lived. A contributor toKirkus Reviews offered a mixed assessment, describing the work as "a blend of family history and world history that starts out strong—the Russian years are by far the most compelling—but runs out of steam long before Olga does." Jonathan Mirsky, on the other hand, noted in the Spectator that "what Stephanie Williams has done superbly … is to bring to vibrant life the world of middle- and upper-class Russians in Siberian towns." Booklist reviewer Vanessa Bush predicted that "the startling history and personal story of exile will capture strong readers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2005, Vanessa Bush, review of Olga's Story: Three Continents, Two World Wars, and Revolution—One Woman's Epic Journey through the Twentieth Century, p. 1633.

Bookseller, March 4, 2005, Benedicte Page, "Surviving Siberia's Struggle: Stephanie Williams Has Pieced Together the Dramatic Story of Her Grandmother, Caught Up As an Ordinary Teenager in Siberia's Bolshevik Revolution," p. 32.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2005, review of Olga's Story, p. 466.

Library Journal, July 1, 2005, Maria C. Bagshaw, review of Olga's Story, p. 99.

Publishers Weekly, March 28, 2005, review of Olga's Story, p. 64.

Spectator, July 16, 2005, Jonathan Mirsky, "Among the Siberian Gentry," review of Olga's Story,p. 37.