Anna Raverat

A descendent of the celebrated artist Gwendolin Raverat (a granddaughter of the great Charles Darwin), Anna Raverat’s first foray into authordom has quickly established that she is a woman of no small talent herself. Her debut novel, Signs of Life, has not only been published to critical acclaim, but has made it onto the Waterstone’s 11, a selection of the bookseller's favourite debut books of 2012, and a much deserved accolade.

Born in Cambridge, Raverat grew up in North Yorkshire, returning to the town of her birth to read English at King’s College. When asked what made her decide to write a novel she replied, ‘I was sitting on a train, and I was reading a book… Novel on Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith, and I’d only got a few pages into it but it was that feeling of ‘Oh no! That’s what I’m going to do.’’ After putting the thought to the back of her mind for a few months, Raverat finally took the plunge and began her novel, a book inspired by the works of Lydia Davis and Jorie Graham, and a story of ‘love, lust and obsession and passion…memory and authenticity’. Pronounced a ‘searing and unflinching’ novel, this is one of the most hotly tipped reads of 2012, definitely one to watch out for!

Hear Anna Raverat talk about Signs of Life here.