Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award

Lesley Pearse

Lesley Pearse is one of the UK's best-loved novelists with fans across the globe and sales of over 2 million copies of her books to date. A true storyteller and a master of gripping plots that keep the reader hooked from beginning to end, Pearse introduces you to characters that it is impossible not to care about or ever forget.

Truth is often stranger than fiction and Lesley's life has been as packed with drama as her books. She was three when her mother died under tragic circumstances. Her father was away at sea and it was only when a neighbour saw Lesley and her brother playing outside without coats on that suspicion was aroused - their mother had been dead for some time. With her father in the Royal Marines, Lesley and her older brother spent three years in grim orphanages before her father remarried - a veritable dragon of an ex-army nurse - and Lesley and her older brother were brought home again, to be joined by two other children who were adopted by her father and step mother, and a continuing stream of foster children. The impact of constant change and uncertainty in Lesley's early years is reflected in one of the recurring themes in her books: what happens to those who are emotionally damaged as children. It was an extraordinary childhood and in all her books Lesley has skilfully married the pain and unhappiness of her early experiences with her unique gift for storytelling.

Lesley's desperate need for love and affection as a young girl was almost certainly the reason she kept making bad choices in men in her youth. A party girl during the swinging sixties, Lesley did it all - from nanny to bunny girl to designing clothes. She lived in damp bedsits while burning the candle at both ends as a 'Dolly Bird' with twelve-inch mini shirts. She married her first husband - fleetingly - at twenty and met her second, John Pritchard, a trumpet player in a rock band soon after. Her debut novel, Georgia, was inspired by her life with John, the London clubs, crooked managers and the many musicians she met during that time. Lesley's first child, Lucy, was born during this time but with John's erratic lifestyle and a small child in the house the marriage was doomed to failure and they parted when Lucy was four.

It was a real turning point in Lesley's life - she was young and alone with a small child - but, in another twist of fate, Lesley met her third husband, Nigel, while on her way to Bristol for an interview. They married a few years later and had two more daughters, Sammy and Jo. The following years were the happiest of her life - she ran a playgroup, started writing short stories and then opened a card and gift ship in Bristol's Clifton area. Writing by night, running the shop by day, and fitting in all the other household chores along with the needs of her husband and children for seven years was tough.

'Some strange compulsion kept me writing, even when it seemed hopeless,' she admits. 'I wrote three books before 'Georgia', then along came Darley Anderson who offered to be my agent. Even so, a further six years of disappointments and massive re-writes followed before we finally found a publisher'.

There was more turmoil to follow however, when Lesley's shop failed in the 90s recession, leaving her with a mountain of debts and bruised pride. Her eighteen year marriage broke down, and at fifty she hit rock bottom - it seemed she was back where she had started in a grim flat with barely enough money for her youngest daughters' bus fares to school.

'I wrote my way out of it,' she says. 'My second book 'Tara' was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year, and I knew I was on my way.'

Lesley's own life is a rich source of material for her books; whether she is writing about the pain of first love, the unwanted abused child, adoption, rejection, fear, poverty and revenge, she knows about it first hand. She's a fighter, and with her long fought for success has come security and her three daughters, grandson, friends, dogs and gardening have brought her great happiness. She is president of the Bath and West Wiltshire branch of the N.S.P.C.C., the charity closest to her heart.

Mari Evans

Mari Evans is Lesley's publisher at Penguin and working with Lesley is one of her favourite parts of the job. It means she's lucky enough to read Lesley's novels before anyone else and gets to work on exciting projects like the Women of Courage Award. Prior to working at Penguin, Mari worked for Pan Macmillan, where she published writers including Jackie Collins and Anita Diamant - author of The Red Tent - and then at Hodder & Stoughton, where she published the Richard & Judy bestseller, Starter for Ten by David Nicholls. Mari grew up in Suffolk before the bright lights of London lured her away in the early 1990s. She lives in the heart of the East End and loves it.

Karen Pasquali Jones

Karen is editor of Love It! and has 17 years experience in national newspapers and magazines. She began her career as a reporter with the news agency South West where she broke the 'House of Horrors' story and was the first journalist to expose the cracks in Charles and Diana's marriage. After working as a news reporter at Today and The People newspapers she joined Bauer, where she became Deputy Editor to Janice Turner at That's Life! She then helped Janice launch Real, the first bi-weekly glossy. In 2003 Karen became the Editor of Emap's Mother & Baby magazine, where she boosted circulation by 12% and launched several high-profile consumer campaigns including the hugely successful Travel Safe campaign, calling for all children aged four and under to travel in properly fitted car seats. Last April she was headhunted by Mike Soutar, Editorial Director of IPC, to create a new women's weekly magazine. The resulting product, Pick Me Up, has been one of the most successful magazine launches to date. After spending the first eight months of last year at Closer magazine as a Contributing Editor, where she helped boost sales with real life and showbiz exclusives, Karen was headhunted by News International's newly created magazine division News Magazines to spearhead their first launch. Karen is a regular contributor to TV, radio and press.