Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones was born in 1934 in London. Her childhood was marked by World War II, which led to a significant upheaval for her and her family, eventually settling in the Essex countryside. Despite these challenges, by the age of eight, she had already decided to become a writer and began crafting stories that she would read to her two sisters. In 1953, she started studying English literature at Oxford, where she attended lectures by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Shortly before, she met John Burrow, whom she married in 1956. Since 1976, the couple, along with their three sons, have lived in Bristol. Diana Wynne Jones has written more than thirty books. Almost all of them are aimed at children, and their themes contain as much magic as she believes reality itself holds: a lot! "Charmed Life" (1977) was the book through which the author introduced the audience to the powerful enchanter Chrestomanci, earning the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. It was the first of many accolades that followed, as the Chrestomanci series catapulted the author to fame. In Britain, Jones's books consistently top the bestseller lists.