Campbell, Alexandra 1954–

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Campbell, Alexandra 1954–

PERSONAL: Born 1954, in England; married; husband's name David; children: Frederick and Rosalind (twins).

ADDRESSES: Home—Kent, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2 0RL, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: She, London, England, former staff member; Harpers & Queen, London, former staff member; Good Housekeeping, London, former managing editor; Women & Home, London, beauty and well-being editor.

MEMBER: Women in Journalism (deputy chair).

AWARDS, HONORS: Individual Journalist's Award, National Home Improvement Council, 1995.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Office Party, Penguin (London, England), 1998.

The Ex-Girlfriend, Penguin (London, England), 2000.

The Daisy Chain, Penguin (London, England), 2001.

That Dangerous Age, Penguin (London, England), 2002.

Remember This, Penguin (London, England), 2004.

INTERIOR DESIGN GUIDES

East Meets West: Global Design for Contemporary Interiors, Rizzoli International (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Liz Bauwens) Spaces for Living: How to Create Multifunctional Rooms for Today's Homes, Clarkson Potter (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Liz Bauwens) Country Chic: Country Style for Modern Living, photographs by Simon Brown, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Nina Campbell's Decorating Notebook: Insider Decorating Ideas for Home, photographs by Jan Baldwin, Clarkson Potter (New York, NY), 2004.

OTHER

(With the Bodyshop) Face Savers (personal care guide), Futura (London, England), 1986.

(With the Bodyshop) Suntan Special (health guide), Futura (London, England), 1986.

Moving Day (radio play), Radio Four, 2005.

Also author of other radio plays. Contributor to London, England newspapers, including the Times, Independent, and Daily Telegraph; contributor to magazines, including You and How to Spend It.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Fortune Teller's Code, a novel.

SIDELIGHTS: Alexandra Campbell is a novelist and style writer who has written on topics as diverse as interior decorating, female friendship, and gender issues in the workplace. Early in her career Campbell was a finalist for the Catherine Pakenham Award for young women journalists, sponsored by the Daily Telegraph, and the Vogue Talent Contest for young writers. Campbell's first novel, The Office Party, was shortlisted for the Nottingham Arrow First Novel Award. Her third novel, The Daisy Chain, features a heroine who must choose between her best friend and her first love. That Dangerous Age examines two married women who help each other discover new revelations about themselves regarding intimacy, friendship, and marriage.

Remember This, Campbell's fourth novel, explores a family of three brothers divided over an inheritance in the late 1960s. Their mother, Maud Devereaux, has recently died, and her sons have to decide what to do with the family's vacation cottage. All three have fond memories of the time spent at the cottage, which contrast with their current lives. Told from the viewpoint of Lily, the wife of the middle son, Tom, the novel explores the effect of the division over what to do with the cottage, what it means to the brothers, and their place in the family. The trio also resolve issues around the death of their father when they were young. In an interview published on the Penguin UK Web site, Campbell described the book as "a grown-up love story for women who know that Jane Austen, wonderful as she is, leaves her readers at the church door, just before life starts to get really interesting."

Campbell is also the coauthor of several interior design books. Her Spaces for Living: How to Create Multifunctional Rooms for Today's Homes was described by a reviewer in the London Mirror as an "inspirational and informative book [that] shows you how to be clever with your space and turn each room in your house into a multi-functional, dual purpose living space." In Booklist, Barbara Jacobs found Campbell's Country Chic: Country Style for Modern Living praiseworthy because "no rooms of the rich and famous appear. Furnishings mix vintage flea market with white-hued home offices. And the country style itself is upscale, streamlined, and broad." Country Chic was described by a contributor to Publishers Weekly as showing off "gorgeous country homes in styles from Shaker to modern, with every combination in between."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2001, Barbara Jacobs, review of Country Chic: Country Style for Modern Living, p. 1656.

Mirror (London, England), January 16, 1999, "Fifty Books to Give Away," review of Spaces for Living: How to Create Multifunctional Rooms for Today's Homes, p. 4.

Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2001, "Poolside Panache and More," review of Country Chic, p. 59.