Reina James

{{short description|British author (born 1947)}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

{{Infobox person

|name= Reina James

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|df=yes|1947|4|26}}

|occupation=Actress, singer and author

|parents=Sid James
Meg Williams

|children=1

|spouse={{marriage|Mike Reinstein|1991}}

}}

Reina James (born 1947) is a British author, singer and actress.

She has written two novels, the first of which won the Society of Authors' McKitterick Prize in 2007.

Early life

James was born in 1947, shortly after her parents moved to the UK from South Africa. Her father was the actor Sid James. During her teenage years she played in a folk group before marrying and starting a family.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejc.com/arts/arts-interviews/interview-reina-james|title=Interview: Reina James|first=Gerald|last=Jacobs|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=29 April 2009|accessdate=20 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125044219/http://www.thejc.com/arts/arts-interviews/interview-reina-james|archive-date=2016-11-25}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/11/reina-james-author-family|title=The marriage itself is a blank|work=The Guardian|date=11 April 2009|accessdate=20 April 2011|first=Reina|last=James}} In her late 20s she appeared in the stage play John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert by Willy Russell, and later appeared in Russell's musical Blood Brothers.

Writing career

Having worked since the 1980s as an astrological counsellor,{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/28/fiction.lindagrant|title=Deathly Prose|first=Linda|last=Grant|date=28 June 2007|accessdate=20 April 2011|work=The Guardian}} James published her first novel, This Time of Dying in 2007, which won the Society of Authors' McKitterick Prize, awarded for the best first novel by a writer over the age of 40. Her second novel, The Old Joke, was published in 2009.

Family

James has been married to her second husband Mike Reinstein, a musician, since 1991. She has one son, Jonathan, and one grandchild (through her first marriage).

References