Denise Denby
From an early age of 9, I was placed with my older sister into a convent school as termly boarders; my father, having come back from India, did not think the village school was appropriate.
For 8/9 years I achieved the lead soprano title. I excelled in art, writing, and sports. I left school and did a secretarial course, and during that time met a qualified art restorer and learnt the art of restoration.
I married young at 20 and had 4 children. I never lost my love of art and writing. My husband owned a large estate, and our 4 children had the freedom to play in the fields and explore the woods. Our passion was racehorses along with farming.
In the early 1970s, in order to keep the estate in the family, we moved to an island called Jersey, which is a British Crown Dependency.
I continued with my art restoration and at the same time began to write the beginnings of some of my books. We were lucky enough to own a house in Florida and a house in France. I continued to write in both places; it was my passion. Over the years I wrote four children’s books in French and English, which I also illustrated, one of which has been published.
Unfortunately, in around 2011 my husband was diagnosed with dementia. The next few years of my life were spent caring for him until my dear husband died in 2019.
For those 8 years of nursing my husband, I had to give up my passion for writing entirely. Before my husband’s illness, I wrote my first novel “Affairs”, which was entered into the peoples Booker Prize, at the same time I then began my second novel “Charlie’s Girl”, which I am thrilled to say has also been published.
I am now getting my life back and continue writing, and hope to write many more novels.