Harriet Tyce
{{Short description|Scottish barrister and novelist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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| education = Edinburgh Academy
| alma_mater = Oxford University
University of East Anglia
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| genre = Psychological thriller
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| notable_works = Blood Orange (2019)
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| children = 2
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Harriet Tyce (born November 1972) is a Scottish barrister and novelist, the author of Blood Orange (2019), The Lies you Told (2020), It ends at midnight (2022) and A Lesson in Cruelty (2024).
Tyce was at first educated in Edinburgh, before gaining admission to Oxford University to study English literature, and then completing a law conversion course at City University. For nearly ten years she practised as a criminal barrister before changing her career path to creative writing and crime fiction. Her first novel became a Richard and Judy choice and according to Amazon, it became popular during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.
Early life and education
Harriet Tyce was born in November 1972 and grew up in Edinburgh, the eldest of two children of Lord Nimmo Smith, retired judge, and Jennifer, an academic and classicist.{{cite book |last1=Tyce |first1=Harriet |title=Blood Orange |date=2019 |publisher=Wildfire |isbn=978-1-4722-5277-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oP1GDwAAQBAJ}}{{cite news |last1=Swarbrick |first1=Susan |title=Blood Orange author Harriet Tyce on her Edinburgh roots and why she swapped law for books |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18798996.blood-orange-author-harriet-tyce-swapping-law-books/ |access-date=21 June 2021}} In Edinburgh, she at first attended an all girls school where she became friends with Sarah Hughes.{{cite news |title=Journalist Sarah Hughes, whose wit and passion inspired everything she wrote |url=https://londonnewstime.com/journalist-sarah-hughes-whose-wit-and-passion-inspired-everything-she-wrote/181440/ |access-date=23 June 2021 |work=London News Time |date=10 April 2021}} Subsequently she joined the Edinburgh Academy for sixth form, which was mixed.
Tyce gained admission to Oxford University, where she studied English literature, and then completed a law conversion course at City University.{{cite web |title=Meet the Author: Harriet Tyce {{!}} Suffolk Libraries |url=https://www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/posts/meet-the-author/meet-the-author-harriet-tyce |website=www.suffolklibraries.co.uk |access-date=21 June 2021}}
Career
For around ten years Tyce practised as a criminal barrister. In 2005, after attempting to work part-time and not long after her son was born, she left the Bar. Later she completed a master's in creative writing and crime fiction at the University of East Anglia, passing with distinction.
After several rejections she acquired an agent and a book deal with Wildfire, an imprint of Headline. They published Blood Orange (2019), her first novel.{{cite news |last1=O’Connell |first1=John |title=Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce review – smart #MeToo noir |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/27/blood-orange-by-harriet-tyce-review |access-date=21 June 2021 |work=the Guardian}} It became a Richard and Judy choice.{{cite web |title=Creative Writing with Harriet Tyce {{!}} The Novelry. |url=https://www.thenovelry.com/harriet-tyce |website=www.thenovelry.com |access-date=21 June 2021|archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204316/https://www.thenovelry.com/harriet-tyce |url-status=dead }} According to Amazon, the book became popular during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Quibi and World Productions, the producers of Line of Duty and Bodyguard, chose Blood Orange for development into a TV series.
After abandoning a second novel, she released The Lies you Told in 2020.{{cite news |last1=Mesure |first1=Susie |title=Harriet Tyce on The Lies You Told: 'For years I've either had to be someone's mum or wife' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/harriet-tyce-blood-orange-the-lies-you-told-interview-734602 |access-date=21 June 2021 |work=inews.co.uk |date=23 October 2020}} Her book It ends at midnight was released in 2022.{{cite news |last1=Forshaw |first1=Barry |title=The best new crime books — a peril-packed round-up |url=https://www.ft.com/content/57558433-55f0-4be5-938a-3a60225c8fb2 |access-date=2 June 2022 |work=Financial Times |date=18 April 2022}} She wrote the introductory chapter to Holding Tight, Letting Go (2022).{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Hephzibhah |title=Holding Tight, Letting Go by Sarah Hughes review – lessons from a life well lived |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/27/holding-tight-letting-go-by-sarah-hughes-review-lessons-from-a-life-well-lived |access-date=10 June 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=27 March 2022}} A Lesson in Cruelty was released in 2024.{{cite news |last1=Owen |first1=James |last2=Dugdale |first2=John |title=New thrillers for April: try the latest James Bond spin-off |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/best-thriller-book-read-series-author-april-dr03cpnqc |access-date=30 November 2024 |work=The Times|date=26 April 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Hay |first1=Allison |title=A Lesson In Cruelty {{!}} Harriet Tyce |url=https://www.myweekly.co.uk/2024/04/09/lesson-in-cruelty-review/ |website=My Weekly |access-date=30 November 2024 |date=9 April 2024}}
Personal and family
Bibliography
- {{cite book |title=Blood Orange |date=2019|publisher=Wildfire |isbn=978-1-4722-5274-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZRewAEACAAJ}}
- {{cite book |title=The Lies You Told |date=2020 |publisher=Wildfire |isbn=978-1-4722-5279-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8b1mywEACAAJ}}
- {{cite book |title=It Ends At Midnight |date=2022 |publisher=Wildfire |isbn=978-1-4722-8009-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOmxzgEACAAJ}}
- {{cite book |title=A Lesson in Cruelty |date=2024 |publisher=Wildfire |isbn=978-1-4722-8014-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxHKEAAAQBAJ}}