Caroline Lea was born and grew up in Jersey. She gained a First in English Literature and Creative Writing from Warwick University and then realised that she would need to find a job in order to fund her writing. She chose teaching, taught English and drama, and was Head of English at a Birmingham boys’ grammar school.
She now works from home, trying to find the time to write, in between meeting the demands of two, small autocratic boys. While she has ditched her last four attempts at fiction, she has had poetry published in The Phoenix Anthology and An Aston Anthology, which she also co-edited. She is currently working on her first novel, which is set in Jersey during World War Two, when the island was invaded and occupied by German forces. The novel is very much a study of people under pressure and the choices we make when we seem to have no choice at all. Through the voices of four very different individuals, it examines the ways in which the people and the island are forever changed by the foreign invasion.
WHEN THE SKY FELL APART was published by Text Publishing House in February 2016 and the paperback is due in Spring 2017.
Her next novel THE GLASS WOMAN was pre-empted by Michael Joseph and will be published in 2019.
@Frizbot Oooh! I love short stories and bought this last week! Super! Much excitement! Many exclamations! Thank you!
@Frizbot I loved, loved, *loved* this. Have had the great-book-DTs ever since: any recommendations for reading methadone?
RT: This is just brilliant and heartfelt rhetoric from @DavidLammy. My grandparents came here too. If we’re not British… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
WHEN THE SKY FELL APART — buy it here.
Jersey, June 1940: it starts with the burning man on the beach just after the bombs land, obliterating the last shred of hope that Hitler will avert his attention from the Channel Islands. Within weeks, 12,000 German troops land on the Jersey beaches, heralding a new era of occupation. Caroline Lea’s narrative follows life under German rule for four locals. When The Sky Fell Apart is a heart-breaking chorus of the resilience of the human spirit. These memorable characters take you on a journey through the war and linger with you long after the last page
PUBLISHER: Text Publishing Company
PUBLICATION DATE: 24th February 2016