Sarah Dunant Books In Order

Publication Order of Borgias Books

Publication Order of Hannah Wolfe Books

Publication Order of Maria Masterson Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Sarah Dunant is a renowned English writer along with being a broadcaster and critic. She was born on 8 August 1950 in London, England and lived there until she went to college. Sarah was raised by her father David Dunant, who was a steward for the Welsh airlines and later became a manager at the British Airways along with his wife Estelle who was of French origin and brought up in Bangalore, India. Sarah received her education from a local girls’ school known as Godolphin and Latymer, a place which emphasized on grammar studies. After completing school, Sarah got selected into the Newnham College in Cambridge and learned history while being involved in theatre and footlights as well. Sarah has two grown up daughters and is married. She divides her time between London and Italy as the two places identify with her home and work respectively.

After completing her graduation and a short spell of successful acting which earned her an Equity Card, Sarah moved to Tokyo. There, she worked as an English teacher and as a nightclub hostess for a period of six months before traveling back home through South Eastern Asia. After coming back to London, Sarah worked for the BBC Radio 4 by helping them with their arts magazine “Kaleidoscope”. After working at BBC for two years, she traveled again via land through Northern, Central and Southern parts of America in order to gather research material for her first novel as a solo writer.

Dunant has co-written “Exterminating Angels” (1984) and “Intensive Care” (1986) with Peter Busby using the name Peter Dunant. In 1988, her first solo written novel known as “Snow Storms in Hot Climate” was released. This thriller novel was based around the early stages of cocaine trading within Colombia. She worked extensively in the television and radio industry and was the presenter for the BBC2’s live arts program which featured during late hours with the title as “The Late Show” in the 1990’s. Sarah also worked as BBC Radio 3’s presenter for “Night Waves” program which was a cultural discussion program airing at night. Sarah constantly contributes to radio and occasionally presents for BBC Radio 4’s “A Point of View” which is an opinion slot.

Sarah began writing during her late 20’s and initially worked with a friend producing two political thrillers along with a BBC1 drama series known as “Thin Air” which featured six parts and was broadcast in 1989. During her solo career, Sarah has written nearly a dozen novels in the genres of historical fiction and contemporary thriller. She blends the two genres using admittedly popular forms along with a compelling form of storytelling which prompts exploration of serious subject matter along with helping her reach large audiences. Her writing often includes passionate feminism and highlights the role of women in history.
Dunant wrote a trilogy during the 90’s which featured a central character Hannah Wolfe who was British female private investigator. The series brought public focus towards issues such as cosmetic surgery, violence against women, surrogacy and animal rights. Sarah’s book “Transgression” brings sexual violence to common light and explores the possibilities if a woman woke up to an intruder within her house and lived to retell the happenings. The actions undertaken by the heroine in the book generated a lot of attention triggering various debates throughout the nation regarding popular culture and rape.

Sarah states that a visit to Florence in the year 2000 brought another change in her writing career. During her extended visit and amidst what was something of a midlife crisis, Dunant’s previous passion towards history was rekindled and she began researching the renaissance’s impact on the city of Florence, during the 1490’s. Following this, Sarah wrote the highly acclaimed “The Birth of Venus” which was followed by two sequels. This trilogy focused on the lives of women during the era of Italian renaissance. The immense success of these books around the globe allowed Sarah to devote her entire time to concentrate on research and writing. The first book revolves around the life of Alessandra Cecchi who is a 15 year old girl of a wealthy cloth merchant. Alessandra is enchanted by a young painter’s abilities hired from northern Europe for decoration of Chapel Walls but her dreams are cut short when her parents marry her to a wealthy and much older man. The series flows forward with impressive force against a turbulent backdrop of Florence enriched with brilliant scenes and well written characters.

Sarah’s attraction towards renaissance and lives of women led her to write “Sacred Hearts”. This novel tells the story of nuns within an enclosed convent during the 16th century Ferrara, Italy. This novel led in collaboration with an early music group known as Musica Secreta followed by a theatrical adaptation which used the music belonging to the same period and was performed in churches and music festivals in Britain with the help of a choir.

Sarah has also worked to unravel the history of Borgia family for separation of misguiding historical truths and other gossip and scandals that took place during and after their life. Her research has allowed her to advocate towards better accuracy in depicting history within popular television and media such as the TV series, “The Borgias”. Working as a journalist, Sarah has reviewed for almost all papers within the United Kingdom and has edited two books relating to Essays on Political Correctness along with Millennium Anxieties and was last known to be reviewing for New York Times.

Over her writing career, Dunant has received numerous accolades for her work. She received the CWA Silver Dagger award for her novel “Fatlands” and her crime related novels were shortlisted thrice for the prestigious CWA Golden Dagger Award. Sarah’s novel “Sacred Hearts” was in the shortlist for Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize which was held for the first time in 2010 to highlight the increasing popularity and reach of the new genre. She is also an accredited lecturer for the NASFAS which is an arts charity in the UK focused on promotion of education and appreciation towards fine arts. Sarah is also a guest lecturer for the creative writing MA course at Oxford Brookes University which awarded her a doctorate of letters as an honor in 2016. Sarah has a massive number of readers due to her exceptional talent for writing and liberal views. Fans usually follow her journalism articles along with her public speeches which address causes like feminism, religion etc.