Moore, Charlotte 1959-

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Moore, Charlotte 1959-

PERSONAL:

Born 1959; divorced; children: George, Sam, Jake. Education: Attended Oxford University and Birkbeck College.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Sussex, England.

CAREER:

Journalist, novelist, and nonfiction author. Worked as a schoolteacher for twelve years.

WRITINGS:

Promises Past (novel), Arrow (London, England), 1995.

Martha's Ark (novel), Arrow (London, England), 1996.

My Sister, Victoria (novel), Penguin (London, England), 2000.

Florence Nightingale: The Lady with the Lamp (nonfiction; for children), Short Books (London, England), 2004.

Who Was … Elizabeth I (nonfiction), Short Books (London, England), 2005.

George and Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism, foreword by Nick Hornby, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to the Guardian (London, England).

SIDELIGHTS:

As a mother of two young boys, Charlotte Moore found herself questioning the normalcy of her sons' increasingly odd behavior; but she initially denied the possibility that they may be autistic because they didn't display the stereotypical qualities of the disorder. The boys were ultimately diagnosed with the condition, and Moore was forced to create for them a highly structured routine that catered to both boys' different needs. Her 2006 book George and Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism chronicles her daily experiences as a mother of autistic children, including their unique sleeping and eating habits, their inability to interact normally, and their atypical interests. In a review for Library Journal, Corey Seeman maintained that Moore makes "a distinctive contribution to the genre of personal narratives about autism." A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked: "Moore brings a reporter's eye and a mother's love to this exploration of autism." Other critics also greeted the work with positive reviews. Harriet Stewart wrote in a review for the Guardian Online: "What makes this book stand out from others along similar lines is that it is outstandingly well-written. Moore has the ability to observe her sons closely, and lovingly to comment on their differences. She is not the first mother to have had two autistic sons, followed by a non-autistic child, but she has the literary and intellectual gifts to write a powerful and deeply affecting book about them."