Perry, Tasmina

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Perry, Tasmina

PERSONAL:

Born in Salford, England; married; husband's name John; children: Finlay (son).

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England.

CAREER:

Writer, novelist, and editor. Formerly worked as an attorney.

WRITINGS:

Daddy's Girls, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007.

Gold Diggers, Touchstone Book (New York, NY), 2008.

In Style magazine, deputy editor. Jaunt (a travel and fashion magazine), founder and publisher. Contributor to periodicals, including Marie Claire, Heat, and Glamour.

SIDELIGHTS:

Tasmina Perry is a novelist and magazine editor who once worked as an attorney in England. Finding the world of women's magazine journalism more to her liking, Perry abandoned her law career and began writing for upscale magazines such as Glamour and Marie Claire. She has served as deputy editor of the British version of In Style magazine, and as a freelancer for a number of other publications. Perry is also the founder and publisher of her own travel and fashion magazine, Jaunt.

Perry's debut novel, Daddy's Girls, is a murder mystery set in the world of British wealth, glamour, and high fashion. In an interview with Emma Unsworth in the Manchester Evening News, Perry revealed that she delivered the manuscript for the novel some twenty-four hours before she was set to deliver her firstborn son, Finlay. "Lying in her hospital bed, heavily pregnant and just weeks away from giving birth, Tasmina Perry just could not stop writing. Scribbling away on any notebook that came to hand, she was determined to finish her first novel before baby arrived," Unsworth reported. A medical condition meant Perry spent a lot of time in a hospital bed before her son was born, but she was determined not to let anything interfere with finishing her book. "It's something of a rebuke to those who think that mums-to-be should do nothing but put their feet up and pick out baby names," Unsworth mused.

Daddy's Girls tells the story of wealthy Lord Oswald Balcon and his four glamorous, ambitious, high-society daughters. Serena is a beautiful and successful actress. Camilla is a lawyer and an up-and-coming politician. Cate is the editor of a well-regarded women's magazine, while Venetia is a trendy designer. Their privileged lives are bracketed with excessive wealth and plenty of high-energy sex. Yet all is not well within the confines of the Balcon family. When regal patriarch Oswald is found dead, floating in the moat at his vast estate, the daughters fall under suspicion. Soon, the question of why the Balcon daughters would want to kill their father evolves into wondering why they would not have wanted to murder him at the first opportunity. As the dysfunctional family story unfolds, readers learn that Oswald Balcon had been interfering with Camilla's political career, undermining Cate's plans to start her own magazine, threatening to disinherit Serena's illegitimate son, and squelching Venetia's plans to expand her design company into the U.S. market. All four daughters have a plausible motive for murder, and they quickly realize that it is up to them to clear their names and find the real killer. In doing so, they uncover long-concealed family secrets and information about their father that shock them to the core. Booklist reviewer Aleksandra Kostovski called the novel the "perfect fix for readers looking for a frivolous treat." PopMatters critic Kristin Granero named it a "glossy, first-class murder mystery."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2007, Aleksandra Kostovski, review of Daddy's Girls, p. 75.

Bookseller, March 16, 2007, review of Daddy's Girls, p. 11.

Entertainment Weekly, July 20, 2007, Leah Greenblatt, review of Daddy's Girls, p. 79.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2007, review of Daddy's Girls.

Manchester Evening News (Manchester, England), January 8, 2006, Emma Unsworth, "Local Mum's Race to Finish Novel," biography of Tasmina Perry.

Philadelphia Inquirer, August 22, 2007, Kristin Granero, "Glossy, First-Class Daddy's Girls Focuses Heavily on the Careers, Loves, Losses of the Siblings, with a Touch of Secrets," review of Daddy's Girls.

Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2007, review of Daddy's Girls, p. 27.