Haycraft, Anna Margaret (1932–2005)
Haycraft, Anna Margaret (1932–2005)
British novelist. Name variations: Anna Margaret Haycraft; (pseudonyms) Alice Haycraft; Alice Thomas Ellis. Born Anna Margaret Lindholm, Sept 9, 1932, in Liverpool, England; died Mar 8, 2005; dau. of John and Alexandra Lindholm; grew up in Penmaenmawr, North Wales; attended Liverpool School of Art; m. Colin Haycraft (owner of Duckworth publishing), 1956; children: 7 (2 of whom died young).
Served as fiction editor at Gerald Duckworth & Co.; published novels under pseudonym Alice Thomas Ellis; works, which are often set in Wales and combine realism and satire with supernatural and mystical elements, include The Sin Eater (1977), The Birds of the Air (1980), The 27th Kingdom (1982), The Other Side of the Fire (1985), Unexplained Laughter (1985), Home Life (1986), Pillars of Gold (1992), and Fairy Tale (1996); her trilogy, The Clothes in the Wardrobe (1987), The Skeleton in the Cupboard (1988), and The Fly in the Ointment (1989), was filmed for tv as "The Summerhouse," starring Jeanne Moreau; worked as journalist for The Universe (1989–91), Catholic Herald, and Oldie; wrote "Home Life" column for The Spectator (1985–89).
See also memoir A Welsh Childhood.