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Deborah Harkness (born 1965) is an American scholar and novelist, best known as a historian and as the author of the All Souls Trilogy, which consists of The New York Times best-selling novel A Discovery of Witches and its sequels Shadow of Night and The Book of Life. Her latest book is Time's Convert: A Novel, both an origin story of the trilogy's Marcus Whitmore character, set in the American War of Independence and the French Revolution, and a sequel to the All Souls Trilogy.

Early life

Born in 1965, Harkness grew up near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of an American-born father and a British-born mother.[1] She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College (B.A., 1986), Northwestern University (M.A., 1990), and the University of California, Davis (Ph.D., 1994).[2] Harkness also studied abroad at Oxford University. She is a well-regarded historian of science and medicine,[3] as well as having taught courses about the history of magic and science.[4]

Career

Harkness is a professor of history and teaches European history and the history of science[5] at the University of Southern California.[6] She has published two works of historical non-fiction, John Dee's Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy and the End of Nature (1999) and The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution (2007).[6]

In 2011, Harkness published her first work of fiction, A Discovery of Witches. The first novel in the All Souls trilogy, A Discovery of Witches is a historical fiction novel that tells the story of a modern-day witch who inadvertently calls up an ancient enchanted manuscript at Oxford University's Bodleian Library[7] thereby attracting the unwelcome notice of a host of magical creatures who live among humans, including other witches, daemons, and a 1,500-year-old French vampire.[8][6] The novel debuted at number two on The New York Times Best Seller hardcover fiction list,[9] and has been sold in at least 34 countries.[10] The book was called "a sophisticated fairy tale for adults" by the San Antonio Express-News.[11] The second novel in the series, Shadow of Night, was published a year later, becoming a number one success on The New York Times Best Seller list.[12] The third novel in the series is called The Book of Life.[13] The book was published on July 15, 2014, in hardback, e-book, and audiobook in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland.

Harkness at book signing, August 2014

On January 9, 2014, the United States front cover and a two-page excerpt were released to the public on USA Today. On May 12, 2014, chapter 1 was released on Harkness' website.[14] Harkness is also the author of the award-winning wine blog, Good Wine Under $20.

Harkness released a companion book in May 2018 entitled The World of All Souls: The Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy), followed in September 2018 by an All Souls series trilogy prequel/sequel entitled Time's Convert. The book features Marcus Whitmore, Matthew Clairmont's vampire son.[14]

Harkness is an executive producer of BadWolf's eight episode television series based on Harkness' novel, A Discovery of Witches. The series premiered in the UK on Sky One on September 14, 2018, and is now streaming on NOW TV.[15] The international distribution of the series is handled by Sky Vision.[16][17] It was revealed by Sky One on All Souls Day (November 2) 2018 that the TV series would be extended by seasons 2 and 3, corresponding to the A Discovery of Witches sequels Shadow of Night and The Book of Life.[18] Season 2 (10 episodes) was released in early 2021, and season 3 ( 7 episodes) in early 2022.[19]

Personal life

Harkness currently lives in Southern California where she is a professor of history.[1]

Bibliography

Novels

All Souls

  1. A Discovery of Witches. New York: Viking. 2011. ISBN 9780670022410. OCLC 635459436.
  2. Shadow of Night. New York: Viking. 2012. ISBN 9780670023486. OCLC 760974138.
  3. The Book of Life. New York: Viking. 2014. ISBN 9780525427223. OCLC 1202304348.
  4. Time's Convert. New York: Viking. 2018. ISBN 9780399564512. OCLC 1111582969.*

*Many of the events in Time's Convert take place in the present-day, however a portion of them take place prior to the events of A Discovery of Witches. In other words, Time's Convert acts as a sequel to the trilogy while also containing a prequel component.

Companions

  • The All Souls Real-Time Reading Companion (2015)
  • The World of All Souls: A Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and the Book of Life (2018)

Books

Journal articles

Awards

  • Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award for (2018)[21]
  • Honorary Degree, Mount Holyoke College (2014)

Harkness' faculty profile on the University of Southern California's website also lists the following honors and awards:[2]

  • Highly Commended, Longman-History Today Awards Book Prize, Spring 2009
  • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Pfizer Award for Best Book in the History of Science, History of Science Society, Fall 2008
  • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, John Best Snow Prize for Best Book in British Studies, North American Conference on British Studies, Fall 2008
  • Prize for Best Book, Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies, Spring 2008
  • Huntington Library Research Fellowship Recipient, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, 2006–2007
  • Guggenheim Fellowship Recipient, John S. Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, 2004–2005
  • Residency at the National Humanities Center, National Humanities Center, John E. Sawyer Fellow, 2004–2005
  • NIH/NSF Career Development Award, National Science Foundation Senior Scholar's Award, 2001–2002
  • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Derek Price Award for Best Article, History of Science Society, 1998
  • American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship Recipient, ACLS Fellowship, 1997–1998
  • Huntington Library Research Fellowship Recipient, NEH Fellowship, Huntington Library, 1997–1998
  • Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Nelson Prize for Best Article, Renaissance Society of America, 1997
  • Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, U.S. Department of Education, 1989–1993
  • Fulbright Award, Fulbright Fellowship to the United Kingdom, 1991–1992

Notes

  1. ^ a b Timberg, Scott (April 10, 2011). "Deborah Harkness' 'A Discovery of Witches' started with airport bookstores". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Faculty Profile: Deborah Elizabeth Harkness". Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  3. ^ Hernandez-Vogt, Persephone (February 24, 2011). "Discovery of a writer: alum pens a preternatural tale". The Mount Holyoke News. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  4. ^ "Deborah Harkness". USC Dornsife. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  5. ^ "Deborah Harkness: The All Souls Trilogy." (February 10, 2014). <http://deborahharkness.com/about-deborah>
  6. ^ a b c Gressitt, Kit-Bacon (February 20, 2011). "SoCal scholar bounds into the supernatural". North County Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  7. ^ McGee, Celia (February 2011). "15 Books to Watch for in February 2011". Book Finder. Oprah.com. p. 4. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  8. ^ Meyer, Michal (Fall 2011 – Winter 2012). "Facts and Fictions". Chemical Heritage Magazine. 29 (3): 40–41. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  9. ^ "Best Sellers". The New York Times. February 27, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  10. ^ Pellegrino, Nicky (April 11, 2011). "Deborah Harkness: Once bitten ..." The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  11. ^ Bennett, Steve (February 12, 2011). "A potent spell cast". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  12. ^ "Best Sellers – Hardcover Fiction". The New York Times. July 29, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  13. ^ "Deborah Harkness". www.facebook.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Deborah Harkness author of The All Souls Trilogy official website". Deborah Harkness. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  15. ^ "A Discovery of Witches streaming: How to watch A Discovery of Witches online". Archived from the original on September 5, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  16. ^ "Sky Corporate". Sky. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  17. ^ "» A Discovery Of Witches". bad-wolf.com. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  18. ^ @skytv (November 2, 2018). "MAGICAL NEWS: We're absolutely..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "A Discovery of Witches". IMDB.
  20. ^ Kavey, Allison (Summer 2008). "London Calling". Chemical Heritage Magazine. 26 (2): 44. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  21. ^ Inkpot Award

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Harkness