Tana French

Tana French
Born	1973 (age 43–44) Vermont, United States
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Trinity College
Occupation	Novelist

Tana French (born 1973) is an Irish novelist and theatrical actress born in Vermont. Her debut novel In the Woods (2007), a psychological mystery, won the Edgar,Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel. She lives in Dublin. The British online newspaper, The Independent, has referred to her as the First Lady of Irish Crime, "who very quietly has become a huge international name among crime fiction readers."

Tana French was born in the United States to Elena Hvostoff-Lombardi and David French, but lived in numerous countries as a child, including Ireland, Italy, the US, and Malawi. Her father was an economist who worked on resource management for the developing world, so the family lived in many different cultures. French attended Trinity College, Dublin and trained in acting. She ultimately settled in Ireland and since 1990 has lived in Dublin, which she considers home. French is married and has two daughters with her husband. She has retained dual citizenship of the US and Italy.

French was enthralled by both acting and writing since her childhood days but eventually focused more on acting. She trained as a professional actor at Trinity, and she works in theater, film, and voiceover. In her later 30s, her passion for writing was unexpectedly rekindled. Her choice of genre stems from her profound interest in mystery and crime novels, which she grew up reading. She began writing her debut novel in the months-long lulls between castings. Titled In the Woods, it was published in 2007 to much international acclaim and received rave reviews from many publications. Publishers Weekly praised French, saying she “expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut" and that "Ryan and Maddox are empathetic and flawed heroes, whose partnership and friendship elevate the narrative beyond a gory tale of murdered children and repressed childhood trauma." It received several literary prizes, was a bestseller in hardcover and paperback, and has been termed a 'dream debut'. As of 2015 more than one million copies of In the Woods have been sold. In 2015, Euston Films & Veritas acquired the rights to the book to be launched as a TV series. Flavorwire, in 2014, included it in their 50 of the Greatest Debut Novels Since 1950.

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