Dunn, Suzannah 1963–

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Dunn, Suzannah 1963–

PERSONAL: Born September 23, 1963, in London, England. Education: Attended the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—Brighton, England. Agent—Deborah Rogers, Rogers Colgridge & White, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN, England.

CAREER: Writer and educator. University of Manchester, England, faculty member and course director in novel writing.

AWARDS, HONORS: Betty Trask Award.

WRITINGS:

Darker Days Than Usual (short fiction), Serpent's Tail (London, England), 1990.

Quite Contrary (novel), Sinclair-Stevenson (London, England), 1991.

Blood Sugar (novel), Flamingo (London, England), 1994.

Past Caring (novel), Flamingo (London, England), 1995.

Venus Flaring (novel), Flamingo (London, England), 1996.

Tenterhooks (short stories), Flamingo (London, England), 1998.

Commencing Our Descent (novel), Flamingo (London, England), 1999.

The Queen of Subtitles (novel), Flamingo (London, England), 2004, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005

The Sixth Wife (novel), HarperCollins (London, England), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS: Suzannah Dunn's first novel, 1991's Quite Contrary, follows themes touched upon in her earlier short fiction, as collected in the 1990 volume Darker Days Than Usual. According to Sue Vice, reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement, Dunn tells the story with an "almost hallucinatorily detailed surface." Vice called it a "promising … start," commenting that "the novel's challenging of narrative devices and genres" bodes well for Dunn's future literary ventures.

Another reviewer in the Times Literary Supplement asserted that Dunn's 1995 novel, Past Caring, is a work that "combines detailed observation of contemporary suburban life with childlike magic." The reviewer claimed that Dunn can "[capture] idiolects accurately" and noted that "sometimes her imagery delicately conveys a particular perspective."

Allison Woodhouse, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, called Dunn's Venus Flaring a novel that "treats familiar themes to a witty and original overhaul." Focusing on the lives of adult childhood friends, Dunn "marries plot and themes, to create a haunting, melancholy tone," according to Woodhouse. Woodhouse also noted that the tale "moves forward like a wave, washing us up on a bare, deserted beach from which we look backwards" with the first-person narrator.

Dunn's 1998 effort, Tenterhooks, is a collection of short stories. Lesley McDowell, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, noted that "Dunn creates stories almost entirely made up from speech, favouring dialogue between women." McDowell noted that Dunn "hears and sees the unheard and unnoticed. Her gaze … skids over the small print, and brings it to the fore."

In her book The Queen of Subtleties, Dunn presents an historical novel about Tudor queen Anne Boleyn as told by the court confectioner, Lucy Cornwallis, and Boleyn herself in alternating chapters. King Henry VIII is on the throne and sentences the musician Mark Smeaton to death for having an affair with the queen. Meanwhile, Lucy has fallen in love with Mark and is overwhelmed with grief. The other story line, also told by both Anne and Lucy, involves the king's efforts to divorce her so he can marry Jane Seymour and have a son. Writing in Booklist, Margaret Flanagan commented: "The authentically detailed narrative resonates with compassionate sympathy." A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the novel "a lively and contemporary-flavored take on a royal wife." In a review in the Library Journal, Anna M. Nelson wrote that the author "imbues the story … with new life."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2004, Margaret Flanagan, review of The Queen of Subtleties, p. 389.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2004, review of The Queen of Subtleties, p. 761.

Library Journal, September 1, 2004, Anna M. Nelson, review of The Queen of Subtleties, p. 138.

Publishers Weekly, September 20, 2004, review of The Queen of Subtleties, p. 44.

Times Literary Supplement, May 31, 1991, Sue Vice, review of Quite Contrary, p. 22; July 14, 1995, review of Past Caring, p. 23; June 21, 1996, Allison Woodhouse, review of Venus Flaring, p. 23; May 29, 1998, Lesley McDowell, review of Tenterhooks, p. 28.