Fitzgerald, Penelope (1916–2000)

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Fitzgerald, Penelope (1916–2000)

British novelist. Name variations: Penelope Knox. Born Penelope Knox, Dec 17, 1916, in Lincoln, England; died April 28, 2000, in London, England; dau. of E(dmund) V(alpy) Knox (witty contributor to Punch) and Christina (Hicks) Knox; stepdau. of Mary Shepard, the illustrator; niece of Monsignor Ronald Knox (biblical scholar); received 1st in English at Oxford (1939); m. Desmond Fitzgerald, 1941.

One of England's most distinctive and elegant voices in contemporary fiction, wrote 1st novel at 61; writings include The Golden Child (1977), The Bookshop (1978), Offshore (1979), Charlotte Mew and Her Friends (1979), Human Voices (1980), William Morris: The Novel on Blue Paper (1981), At Freddie's (1982), Innocence (1986), The Beginning of Spring (1988), The Gate of Angels (1990), The Blue Flower (1995), Heat Wave (1996) and The Means of Escape (2000). Received Booker Prize for Offshore and National Book Critics Circle Award for The Blue Flower.

See also her biography of father and uncles, The Knox Brothers.

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