Barnett, Jill

PERSONAL:

Born in Southern CA; children: a daughter. Education: B.A.; also studied toward an M.A. degree.

CAREER:

Author.

AWARDS, HONORS:

National Waldenbook Award.

WRITINGS:

FICTION

Surrender a Dream, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Just a Kiss Away, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Bewitching, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Dreaming, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, and Arnette Lamb) A Holiday of Love (omnibus), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1994.

Imagine, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Elaine Coffman, Sonia Simone, and Alexis Harrington) Midsummer Night's Madness (omnibus), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Carried Away, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

The Heart's Haven, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Justine Dare, Susan King, and Mary Jo Putney) A Stockingful of Joy (omnibus), Onyx Books, 1997.

Wild, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Debbie Macomber and Susan Wiggs) That Summer Place (omnibus), Mira Books, 1998.

(With Jude Deveraux) A Season in the Highlands (omnibus), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Sentimental Journey, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

The Days of Summer, Atria Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of Wonderful, Pocket Books, and A Knight in Tarnished Armor; Barnett's work has been translated into seventeen languages.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jill Barnett is a successful romance author who is known for her ability to add humor, and sometimes magic, to her tales, such as her well-received 1993 novel, Bewitching. Many of her books are historical tales, but she has more recently ventured into modern mainstream fiction with The Days of Summer. In an interview originally published on the Romance Reader Web site in 1996 and reproduced on the All about Romance Web site, the author commented: "Some of it (humor) comes really well at two a.m. after three pots of coffee…. It's a very difficult topic to talk about because humor is very subjective. What is funny to one person isn't funny to another. I don't know where it comes from, just that my ideas start off a little bit off kilter."

Barnett's Bewitching, Dreaming, and Imagine are all nineteenth-century romances that readers and critics alike have enjoyed. In Bewitching, a Scottish witch named Joyous Fiona MacQuarrie accidentally transports herself onto the lap of an English duke; the two marry, but the duke insists Joyous stop practicing magic. Unfortunately, she cannot, for when she sneezes she produces spells accidentally. A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that the "quirky wit" of the story improves "an otherwise standard plot." A hellion of a woman named Letty and an English earl find themselves imprisoned on a smuggler's ship in another tale in which Barnett mixes humor and romance. "Her characters are joyously fresh and her style is a delight to read," reported a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Imagine, also set in the nineteenth century, features a tale of shipwreck survivors who must fend for themselves on an island; they are aided, remarkably, by a comical genie named Muddy. A Publishers Weekly critic thought that "the antics overwhelm the romance, but it's doubtful readers will care."

Also writing books set in other time periods, Barnett proves herself to be versatile in her settings. Wonderful, for instance, is a medieval romance, while Sentimental Journey is a World War II novel about two soldiers in love with the same woman. While several critics noted that Sentimental Journey does not offer a particularly original story line, they praised Barnett, as Patty Engelmann did in Booklist, for "strong multidimensional characters … and enlightening historical detail." Although a Publishers Weekly writer felt the novel "overflows with clichés," Kristin Ramsdell asserted in Library Journal that this "striking departure from her usual light, funny" stories results in a "riveting, multilayered" work.

After Sentimental Journey, Barnett did not publish again for five years, when The Days of Summer was released. Continuing in a more serious vein, this novel takes place over many years, beginning in the 1950s. Two families are brought together by tragedy after a car accident kills several people. The repercussions last for decades, and Barnett follows the characters from the Peyton and Banning families who are brought together again on the California island of Catalina by love and jealousies. While a Publishers Weekly reviewer accused Barnett of growing "rusty" and producing a "soap opera" plot and a Kirkus Reviews contributor called the book "hackneyed," other critics felt the author succeeds with the modern work. Engelmann, in Booklist, declared it a "compelling tale" and "well-written," and Lesa M. Holstine concluded in Library Journal that this "absorbing romance is filled with engaging characters."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 2001, Patty Engelmann, review of Sentimental Journey, p. 1976; April 1, 2006, Patty Engelmann, review of The Days of Summer, p. 25.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2006, review of The Days of Summer, p. 364.

Library Journal, August, 2001, Kristin Ramsdell, review of Sentimental Journey, p. 88; June 15, 2006, Lesa M. Holstine, review of The Days of Summer, p. 54.

Publishers Weekly, August 30, 1993, review of Bewitching, p. 89; May 2, 1994, review of Dreaming, p. 302; August 7, 1995, review of Imagine, p. 456; July 2, 2001, review of Sentimental Journey, p. 51; April 10, 2006, review of The Days of Summer, p. 43.

ONLINE

All about Romance,http://www.likesbooks.com/ (November 27, 2006), "Pardon My Gush: An Interview with Jill Barnett."

Best Reviews,http://www.thebestreviews.com/ (June 15, 2001), Harriet Klausner, review of A Knight in Tarnished Armor.

Jill Barnett Home Page,http://www.jillbarnett.com (November 27, 2006).

Romance Reader,http://www.theromancereader.com/ (November 27, 2006), Ann McGuire, review of Wonderful; Leslie Dunlap, review of The Days of Summer.