Rosemary Sutcliff
| Rosemary Sutcliff | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rosemary Sutcliff 14 December 1920 East Clandon, Surrey, England |
| Died | 23 July 1992 (aged 71) Chichester, West Sussex, England, UK |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | Children's historical fiction, myth and legend |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards |
Carnegie Medal 1959 Horn Book Award 1972 Phoenix Award 1985, 2010 |
Rosemary Sutcliff CBE (14 December 1920 – 23 July 1992) was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults. In a 1986 interview she said, "I would claim that my books are for children of all ages, from nine to ninety." Some of her novels were specifically written for adults.
For her contribution as a children's writer Sutcliff was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1974.
Sutcliff was born 14 December 1920 to George Ernest Sutcliff and his wife Nessie Elizabeth, née Lawton, in East Clandon, Surrey. She spent her childhood in Malta and various naval bases where her father, a Royal Navy officer, was stationed. She was stricken with Still's Disease when she was very young, and thus used a wheelchair most of her life. Due to her chronic illness, Sutcliff spent most of her time with her mother—a tireless storyteller—from whom she learned many of the Celtic and Saxon legends that she would later expand into works of historical fiction. Sutcliff's early schooling was constantly interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition. She did not learn to read until she was nine years of age, and left school at age 14 to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. Sutcliff then worked as a painter of miniatures.
After being inspired by the children's historical novels of Geoffrey Trease, Sutcliff's first published book was The Chronicles of Robin Hood (1950). Her best-known book may be The Eagle of the Ninth (Oxford, 1954), which inaugurated a series sometimes called Marcus or simply The Eagle of the Ninth. For that first book and for its sequel The Silver Branch (1957), she was a commended runner-up for the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. She was also both a 1956 and a 1958 runner up (thus four times in five years) before winning the Medal for the third Marcus book, The Lantern Bearers (1959). Where the first two books and one later one were set in Roman Britain, The Lantern Bearers immediately follows the withdrawal of the Roman Empire, when the British people are threatened by remaining Germanic troops and by invaders.
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