Paula Hawkins (author)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Amy Silver
Paula Hawkins | |
|---|---|
 Hawkins at Gothenburg Book Fair in 2015 | |
| Born | 26 August 1972 |
| Pen name |
|
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Keble College, Oxford |
| Notable works | |
| Website | |
| paulahawkinsbooks | |
Paula Hawkins (born 26 August 1972) is a British author best known for her top-selling psychological thriller novel The Girl on the Train (2015), which deals with themes of domestic violence, alcohol, and drug abuse.[1][2] The novel was adapted into a film starring Emily Blunt in 2016.[3] Hawkins' second thriller novel, Into the Water, was released in 2017.[4]
Hawkins was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe (known at the time as Salisbury, Rhodesia), the daughter of Anthony "Tony" Hawkins and his wife Glynne.[5] Her father was an economics professor and financial journalist. Before moving to London in 1989 aged 17, Hawkins attended Arundel School, Harare, Zimbabwe then studied for her A-Levels at Collingham College, an independent college in Kensington, West London.[6] Hawkins read philosophy, politics and economics at Keble College, University of Oxford.[6][7] She worked as a journalist for The Times, reporting on business. She then worked for a number of publications on a freelance basis, and wrote a financial-advice book for women, The Money Goddess.[2]
Around 2009, Hawkins began to write romantic comedy fiction under the alias Amy Silver, writing four novels including Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista.
She did not achieve a commercial breakthrough until she challenged herself to write a darker, more serious story.[6] Her best-selling novel The Girl on the Train (2015) is a complex thriller, with themes of domestic violence, alcohol, and drug abuse.[2] The novel took her six months, writing full-time, to complete, at a time when she was in a difficult financial situation and had to borrow from her father. The novel was adapted into a film in 2016.[1] In November 2016, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.[8] Paula's second thriller Into The Water was published in May 2017 and went on to become a Sunday Times and NYT bestseller. Her novel A Slow Fire Burning was published on 31 August 2021.
