Five Children on the Western Front

Novelist, journalist and critic Kate Saunders was born in London in 1960, Saunders was the eldest daughter of six children. Her beginnings as an actor at the National Theatre influenced her novels The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden (Bloomsbury) and Storm in the Citadel (Mandarin/Jonathan Cape).

Saunders¿ first novel, The Prodigal Father (Jonathan Cape/HarperCollins), earned her the Betty Trask prize. Writing everything from historical romance and detective novels to children¿s books, the series that brought her into the spotlight was The Belfry Witches, which was also adapted into a BBC series. She was a judge on the 1990 Booker Prize and the 2007 Women¿s Prize, which she helped found.

Saunders died at age 62 in April 2023.

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