The Road of Bones to me felt as empty of a book that I could read but still have moments where I was enjoying what I was reading. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.Īnne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)Īnne has written more than sixty books for children and young people.

These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as 'dead black'. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.Īnne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny.' In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. Growing up is a long and confusing business. Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, 'a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues.

Countdown by Anne Fine