Emerson, Sally 1952-

views updated

EMERSON, Sally 1952-

PERSONAL: Born 1952, in England; married Peter Stothard (a newspaper editor); children: Anna, Michael. Education: Attended Oxford University.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Little, Brown and Company, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Journalist, author and novelist. Isis (university magazine), Oxford University, editor; Books & Bookman (literary magazine), editor, through 1980.

AWARDS, HONORS: Winner, Vogue magazine writers' competition, 1972; Young Journalist of the Year Award, Radio Times, 1973; Yorkshire Post Prize, best first novel, 1980, for Second Sight.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Second Sight, Michael Joseph (London, England), 1980, published as The Second Sight of Jennifer Hamilton, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1981.

Listeners, Michael Joseph (London, England), 1983.

Fire Child, Michael Joseph (London, England), 1987.

Separation, Scribner (London, England), 1992.

Hush Little Baby, Signet (New York, NY), 1993.

Heat, Little, Brown and Company (Boston, MA), 1998.

Broken Bodies, Little, Brown, and Company, 2001.

COMPILER; FOR CHILDREN

The Kingfisher Nursery Treasury: A Collection of Baby Games, Rhymes, and Lullabies, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books (London, England), 1988, published as The Nursery Treasury: A Collection of Baby Games, Rhymes, and Lullabies, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1988.

ABCs and Other Learning Rhymes, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books, 1992.

(With Pie Corbett) Action Rhymes, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books (London, England), 1992.

Baby Games and Lullabies, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books (London, England), 1992.

(With Pie Corbett) Dancing and Singing Games, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books (London, England), 1992.

The Kingfisher Nursery Rhyme Songbook: With Easy Music to Play for Piano and Guitar, music arranged by Mary Frank, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books (London, England), 1992.

Nursery Rhymes, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books (London, England), 1992.

The Kingfisher Nursery Collection, stories retold by Susan Price, illustrated by Colin and Moira Maclean, Kingfisher Books (London, England), 1993.

OTHER

(Editor) A Celebration of Babies: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose, Blackie (London, England), 1986, Dutton/Dial Books (New York, NY), 1987.

The Orchard Christmas Treasury, Orchard Books (London, England), 1994.

Also contributor to Vogue, Illustrated London News, the Times (London, England), Sunday Times (London, England), and Washington Post.

SIDELIGHTS: Sally Emerson, a native of England, has written a number of novels and has produced several anthologies about and for small children. Second Sight, Emerson's debut as a novelist, is a coming-of-age tale set in London during the months leading up to the sixteenth birthday of its main character, Jennifer Hamilton. As Jennifer approaches adulthood, she must cope not only with the usual problems of growing up but also with an adulterous mother and the death of a friend. Jennifer, moreover, is not a typical adolescent, for she has psychic powers ("second sight") that allow her to communicate with the ghost of her hero, the nineteenth-century poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. L.D. Burnard, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, declared that Second Sight does not have "anything new to tell us about youth and age, love and selfishness, dreams and reality," but praised its "calm authority and delicate wit." He also remarked that the portions of the novel seen through Jennifer's eyes are "unusually rich in observations of colour and costume … and of nuances of mood and emotion, particularly those of adolescence." Barbara A. Bannon in Publishers Weekly lauded Second Sight for its "linguistic virtuosity and well-drawn characters," calling it "a remarkable feat in spite of needless complexities." Less enthusiastically, Frank Rudman of the Spectator commented that Emerson "has attempted to tackle a series of subjects that she cannot quite control, but in her boldness and confidence of approach … is to be congratulated."

Jennifer Hamilton appears again in Listeners, this time as a married woman who writes biographies for children. When her husband leaves her for a less introverted and more stylish companion, a lonely and despairing Jennifer falls into the clutches of Mrs. Maugham, the leader of an evil spiritualist group. As the suspense builds, the reader begins to wonder whether the malignant influence of Maugham and her followers will drive Jennifer to suicide. In Books & Bookmen, Geoffrey Elborn asserted that "the complex situation of the novel in an almost gothic setting could have seemed merely ridiculous and unconvincing had it been clumsily written. Instead Sally Emerson has created a most memorable novel, out of commonplace circumstances which assume a sinister reality." A different view was put forth in the London Review of Books by John Sutherland, who disparaged the quality of Emerson's writing yet believed that the novel could be "enjoyed as an undemanding romance" that also offered "some interesting topicality" in its explorations of suicide and parapsychology.

In the words of Christina Patterson of the Times Literary Supplement, Emerson's fourth novel, Separation, is a book "about passion, the passion between mothers and children." It opens with Amanda Richardson, a London management consultant, looking for a nanny for her infant daughter. The job is taken by Sarah Adams, who is living in a rundown hotel after separating from George, her lawyer husband. Sarah and George have a six-year-old daughter, Alice, whom Sarah is being prevented from seeing. Like Jennifer Hamilton in Emerson's first two novels, Sarah has supernatural powers, which allow her to establish a psychic link with Alice. Ultimately, Alice wreaks revenge on George. Patterson wrote that "Emerson conveys the magical, indefinable attraction of babies in descriptions calculated to unleash strong feelings in the least maternal of readers. Her social observation is as good as ever." James Walton, writing in the Spectator, admitted that the book is not entirely without merit, but he condemned it for approaching its "massively obvious central theme, that babies make a difference to their parents' lives,… as … an insight so startling that the reader won't grasp it unless it is constantly repeated." Walton pointed out, as well, that Emerson is "heavy-handed" in her use of symbolism, presents a cast of utterly stereotypical characters, and in places writes with excessive sentimentality.

Emerson takes a different direction in her sixth novel, Broken Bodies. As Vicky Hutchings in New Statesman wrote, "Emerson has an enormous gift for holding the reader in a close and forceful grip." Emerson displays this talent in this energetic thriller centered around the Elgin Marbles. These ancient Greek statues used to be part of the Parthenon until they were taken from their original site in Athens and brought to Great Britain in the early nineteenth century by Lord Elgin. (The British later bought the Elgin Marbles, which are currently displayed in the British Museum.) In Broken Bodies, two competitive historians, Patrick Browning and Anne Fitzgerald, are researching the life of Elgin's long-suffering wife, Mary Nisbet, for biographies. Their rivalry and thrilling adventures eventually leads to love. Emerson adds a genuine touch to their search, using real letters from Mary Nisbet to create the diary entries used in the novel. Writing in iVenus.com, Nina Blount commented positively on the settings, ending, and plot twists. She noted, "anyone who enjoys thrillers with women in strong roles that dispense with the cops-and-robbers plots could do much worse than Broken Bodies.

Emerson's long-standing interest in the world of the very young is reflected not only in some of her novels such as Separation, but also in her work as an anthologist. Her earliest anthology, A Celebration of Babies: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose, is a slim collection of poetry and prose by male and female authors. Mollie Hardwick remarked in Books & Bookmen that it "is enriched by beautiful and unusual Victorian paintings, and enchanting woodcuts by Arthur Hughes." The Kingfisher Nursery Treasury: A Collection of Baby Games, Rhymes, and Lullabies, aimed at children ages one through four, offers traditional and modern sources. Constance A. Mellon, writing in the School Library Journal, praised the book's "design, arrangement, and thoughtful illustrations."

The Kingfisher Nursery Treasury was followed by several other anthologies in the same vein, including Baby Games and Lullabies and Dancing and Singing Games, which Patricia Pearl Dole of the School Library Journal wrote are "winsomely illustrated" and contain easily understood instructions. Dole regretted, however, that the songs are not accompanied by music. The Kingfisher Nursery Rhyme Songbook: With Easy Music to Play for Piano and Guitar, intended for the one through five age group, presents forty-seven songs, and unlike the collections reviewed by Dole includes music for piano and guitar. It also offers suggestions for crafts and other entertainment suitable for its young audience.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Books & Bookmen, August, 1983, Geoffrey Elborn, review of Listeners, p. 34; May, 1986, Mollie Hardwick, review of A Celebration of Babies: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose, p. 22.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, review of Broken Bodies, p. 1787.

London Review of Books, May 5, 1983, John Sutherland, review of Listeners, p. 15.

New Statesman, June 4, 2001, Vicky Hutchings, review of Broken Bodies, p. 55.

Publishers Weekly, January 2, 1981, Barbara A. Bannon, review of The Second Sight of Jennifer Hamilton, p. 44; October 5, 1992, review of The Kingfisher Nursery Rhyme Songbook: With Easy Music to Play for Piano and Guitar, p. 72.

School Library Journal, January, 1989, Constance A. Mellon, review of The Kingfisher Nursery Treasury: A Collection of Baby Games, Rhymes, and Lullabies, p. 70; March, 1993, Denise Krell, review of The Kingfisher Nursery Rhyme Songbook, pp. 189-190; March, 1994, Patricia Pearl Dole, review of Baby Games and Lullabies and Dancing and Singing Games, p. 214.

Spectator, October 18, 1980, Frank Rudman, review of Second Sight, p. 25; February 15, 1992, James Walton, review of Separation, p. 33.

Sunday Times (London, England), February 9, 2003, Rob Ryan, interview with Sally Emerson, p. 22.

Times Literary Supplement, September 12, 1980, L. D. Burnard, review of Second Sight, p. 984; February 28, 1992, Christina Patterson, review of Separation, p. 24.