Jessie Burton
{{short description|British author and actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jessie Burton
| image = JessieBurton by BenTurner-8 preview.jpg
| caption = Jessie Burton, at Bloomsbury publishers,
April 2018
| birth_name = Jessica Kathryn Burton
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1982|08|17}}
| birth_place = London, England
| occupation = Author, actress
| nationality = British
| education = Central School of Speech and Drama
University of Oxford
}}
Jessica Kathryn Burton (born 17 August 1982)Inside back cover of 2015 Picador UK paperback edition of The Miniaturist is an English author; {{as of|2022|}}, she has published four novels, The Miniaturist, The Muse, The Confession, The House of Fortune and two books for children, The Restless Girls and Medusa. All four adult novels were Sunday Times best-sellers, with The Miniaturist, The Muse and The House of Fortune reaching no. 1, and both The Miniaturist and The Muse were New York Times best-sellers, and Radio 4's Books at Bedtime. Collectively her novels have been published in almost 40 languages.{{Cite web|url=https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/literary/jessie-burton-books-the-miniaturist-the-muse-the-confession|title=Home is where the heart is: Anita Sethi on Jessie Burton's books}} Her short stories have been published in Harpers Bazaar US and Stylist.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jessieburton.co.uk/index.html|title=Jessie Burton|website=Jessie Burton|access-date=9 February 2018|archive-date=8 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208233855/http://www.jessieburton.co.uk/index.html|url-status=dead}}
Burton is also a non-fiction writer. Her essays have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, Vogue, Elle, Red, Grazia, Lonely Planet Traveller and The Spectator.
Early life and career
Burton grew up in Wimbledon, South London,{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeandleisure.co.uk/local-news/jessie-burton/|title=Jessie Burton goes back to school|website=Time & Leisure|first=Chantal|last=Borciani|date=26 October 2018|accessdate=6 October 2024}} her parents originally from Battersea.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/my-london-author-of-the-miniaturist-jessie-burton-a3289891.html|title=My London: Jessie Burton|journal=Evening Standard|first=Thomas|last=Colson|date=7 July 2016|accessdate=6 October 2024}} Burton attended Lady Margaret School in Fulham.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/26/jessie-burton-success-failure-miniaturist-muse-interview|title=Jessie Burton: 'Success can be as fracturing to your self as failure'|last=Kellaway|first=Kate|authorlink=Kate Kellaway|work=The Observer|date=26 June 2016|access-date=26 December 2017}} She went on to graduate from Brasenose College, Oxford and the Central School of Speech and Drama.{{cite news|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11885413.A_giant_success_for_Miniaturist_writer/|title= Best-seller has been a life-changer for Jessie Burton|last=Blackman|first=Jaines|work=Oxford Mail|date=28 March 2015|access-date=26 December 2017}}
A former stage actress, Burton's work in theatre includes The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other at the National Theatre, London in 2008.[http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/thehour National Theatre : Productions : The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517044711/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/thehour|date=17 May 2008}} Having aimed to be "a successful stage actress", by the age of 28 she had stalled in this career, and "could see the writing on the wall - the dream to be the next Kate Winslet wasn’t going to happen. I never fell out of love with acting, it fell out of love with me"; difficulty in getting auditions meant she worked temp jobs, including as a personal assistant in the City of London.{{cite web | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/89511-jessie-burton-s-move-from-stage-to-page.html | title=Jessie Burton's Move from Stage to Page }}
Writing career
Burton's 2014 debut novel The Miniaturist is set in 17th-century Amsterdam. The novel is inspired by Petronella Oortman's dollhouse now at the Rijksmuseum, although it does not otherwise attempt to be a biographical novel.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/08/29/jessie-burton-on-petronella-oortman-and-her-beautiful-cabinet-house/14757513/|title=Jessie Burton on the dollhouse that inspired her novel|last=Spiegelman|first=Ian|work=USA Today|date=29 August 2014|access-date=29 January 2015}} The Miniaturist took over four years to write. It was the subject of a bidding war at the April 2013 London Book Fair. It was adapted as a two-part miniseries for the BBC and PBS Masterpiece in 2017.
Burton's second novel, The Muse, was published in 2016 and is set in a dual time-frame, during the Spanish Civil War and 30 years later in 1960s London.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/25/the-muse-jessie-burton-review-novel|title=The Muse by Jessie Burton|last=Quinn|first=Anthony|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=25 June 2016|access-date=29 June 2016}} It was nominated for the 2016 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.foyles.co.uk/news/BAMB-Winners-2016|title=Inaugural Books are My Bag Award Winners Announced|website=Foyles|access-date=6 November 2017}}
Burton's first novel for children, The Restless Girls, was published in September 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-restless-girls-9781408886908/|title=The Restless Girls|website=Bloomsbury Publishing|access-date=5 October 2018}} The story is based on the Brothers Grimm tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses.{{cite web|url=http://www.jessieburton.co.uk/the-restless-girls.html|title=THE RESTLESS GIRLS|website=Jessie Burton|access-date=9 February 2018|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516034957/http://www.jessieburton.co.uk/the-restless-girls.html|url-status=dead}}
Her third novel for adults, The Confession, was published in 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/the-confession-by-jessie-burton-review|title=The Confession by Jessie Burton review – an understated triumph|work=The Guardian|last=Hickling|first=Alfred|date=21 September 2019|access-date=3 January 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/jessie-burtons-the-confession-is-frankly-a-bit-heavy-handed/|title=Jessie Burton's The Confession is, frankly, a bit heavy-handed|work=The Spectator|last=Rhodes|first=Emily|date=5 October 2019|access-date=3 January 2020}} Medusa, her second book for children, was published in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/medusa-9781408886922/|title=Medusa}}
The House of Fortune, a sequel to The Miniaturist, was published in 2022.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/05/the-house-of-fortune-by-jessie-burton-review-bold-and-thrilling-sequel-to-the-miniaturist|title=
The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton review – bold and thrilling sequel to The Miniaturist|work=The Guardian|last=Preston|first=Alex|date=5 July 2022|access-date=18 August 2022}}
Works
;Adult novels
- The Miniaturist (Picador, 2014)
- The Muse (Picador, 2016)
- The Confession (Picador, 2019)
- The House of Fortune (Picador, 2022)
;Children's books
- The Restless Girls (Bloomsbury, 2018)
- Medusa (Bloomsbury, 2021)
- Hidden Treasure (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Awards and recognitions
- 2014 Waterstones "Book of the Year" winner for The Miniaturist{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30243531|title=Miniaturist novel named Waterstones book of 2014|date=1 December 2014|access-date=23 December 2014|author=Tim Masters|work=BBC News}}
- 2014 Specsavers National Book Awards: New Writer of the Year for The Miniaturist{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30251905|title=Jessie Burton: I never thought of The Miniaturist as ambitious|date=2 December 2014|access-date=23 December 2014|work=BBC News}}
- 2014 Specsavers National Book Awards: Book of the Year for The Miniaturist{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30575976|title=Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist voted Specsavers Book of the Year|date=22 December 2014|access-date=23 December 2014|work=BBC News}}
- 2023 Carnegie Medal: Shortlisted for Medusa{{cite news|last=Shaffi|first=Sarah |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/17/carnegie-medal-for-writing-announces-all-female-shortlist|title=Carnegie medal for writing announces all-female shortlist|date=17 March 2023|access-date=20 April 2023|newspaper=The Guardian }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.jessieburton.co.uk}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Jessie}}
Category:21st-century English novelists
Category:English stage actresses
Category:English television actresses
Category:English radio actresses
Category:21st-century English actresses
Category:English women novelists
Category:21st-century English women writers
Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
Category:Actresses from London