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Susan Stokes-Chapman

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Susan Stokes-Chapman
Born
Susan Elizabeth Stokes-Chapman

1985
Alma materAberystwyth University
Websitewww.susanstokeschapman.com

Susan Elizabeth Stokes-Chapman (born 1985) is an English author of gothic historical fiction, particularly set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Her debut novel Pandora (2022) became a #1 Sunday Times bestseller upon release. This was followed by The Shadow Key (2024).

Early life

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Stokes-Chapman grew up in Lichfield, Staffordshire. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Education and English literature and a Master of Arts (MA) in Creative Writing, both from Aberystwyth University.[1][2] She has since worked for the university as a Higher Education advisor.[3]

Career

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Stokes-Chapman first attempted to write a novel titled Infelice about William Hazlitt and Sarah Walker in her 20s.[4] She spent many years researching Georgian history, which she would make use of in her future writing. She took part in the 2019–2020 Room 204, a Writing West Midlands development programme and worked with Spark Young Writers.[3]

In 2020, what would become Stokes-Chapman's debut novel Pandora was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and longlisted for the Bath Novel Award, through which Stokes-Chapman secured her first book deal. At the start of 2021, Harvill Secker acquired the rights to publish Pandora in December 2022.[5] The novel reimagines the Greek myth of Pandora's box as a 1799 Georgian London-set mystery, following a young woman named Dora Blake who lives with her uncle in an antique shop stumbles across a mysterious box.[6] Pandora debuted at #1 on the The Sunday Times hardback fiction bestseller list[7][2][8] and was shortlisted for the 2023 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award.[9] It had a U.S. release in January 2023.[10]

In the interim, Stokes-Chapman contributed a short story titled "Widow's Walk" to the December 2023 Christmas-themed collection The Winter Spirits from Sphere Books alongside the likes of Laura Purcell, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, and Catriona Ward.[11][12] She would reunite with Sphere for the ghost story collection The Witching Hour.[13]

As announced in May 2023, Stokes-Chapman reunited with Harvill Secker for the publication of her sophomore novel The Shadow Key in April 2024.[14] Set in 1783 and weaving in Welsh folklore and the occult, the darker gothic novel follows London physician Henry Talbot who moves to Penhelyg, a coastal village in northern Wales, upon being hired by Lord Julian Tresilian after his previous physician's death.[15][16] In November 2023, Harvill Secker picked up Stokes-Chapman's next three books: a short story collection titled The Twelve Days of Christmas and her third and fourth novels The Constellations, set in 1765 Prague, and The Moth Farm, set in the 19th century.[17]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • Pandora (2022)
  • The Shadow Key (2024)
  • The Constellations (2026)
  • The Moth Farm (TBA)

Collections

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  • The Twelve Days of Christmas (2025)

Short stories and poems

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  • The Musings of James Bayley (2019)[18]
  • "Widow's Walk" in The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights (2023)
  • "A Midnight Visitor" in The Witching Hour

References

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  1. ^ Dumpleton, Elise (19 January 2023). "Q&A: Susan Stokes-Chapman, Author of 'Pandora'". The Nerd Daily. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Aberystwyth Creative Writing graduate tops UK fiction bestsellers list". Aberystwyth University. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Room 204: 2019–20 cohort". Writing West Midlands. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Meet the Author: Susan Stokes-Chapman". Suffolk Libraries. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  5. ^ Chandler, Mark (31 January 2021). "Harvill Secker pre-empts Stokes-Chapman's 'gorgeously atmospheric' debut". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  6. ^ Hardyment, Christina (19 February 2022). "Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman review — a Georgian tale of ancient treasure and family secrets". The Times. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Susan Stokes-Chapman's PANDORA joins Richard Osman on the Sunday Times Bestseller List immediately upon publication". Mushens Entertainment. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  8. ^ Grima, Noel (23 April 2023). "Book review: The secret of the mysterious Greek vase". The Malta Independent. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  9. ^ Headley, David (27 July 2023). "Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award Shortlist 2023". Goldsboro Books. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  10. ^ Dumpleton, Elise (9 September 2024). "Q&A: Susan Stokes-Chapman, Author of 'The Shadow Key'". The Nerd Daily. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  11. ^ "The Winter Spirits : Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights". Books by Your Beside. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Laura Purcell and Susan Stokes-Chapman to write short stories for The Winter Spirits collection". Mushens Entertainment. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Sphere signs The Witching Hour". BookBrunch. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024.(subscription required)
  14. ^ Spanoudi, Melinda (15 May 2023). "Harvill Secker nabs new book from Pandora author Stokes-Chapman". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  15. ^ "The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman". Roelia Reads. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  16. ^ Redmond, Lisa (12 September 2024). "Threading the Gothic Throughout: The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman". Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  17. ^ Spanoudi, Melinda (7 November 2023). "Harvill Secker scoops three new books by Pandora author Stokes-Chapman". The Bookseller. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  18. ^ Mehrban, Kibriya (8 October 2019). "The Musings of James Bayley by Susan Stokes-Chapman". Overhear. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
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