Author Mary Sharratt is on a mission to write women back into history. Originally from Minnesota, Mary now lives in Portugal, near the beautiful medieval town of Obidos on the Silver Coast.
Her latest novel REVELATIONS, which will be published in April 2021, is drawn from the colorful life of Margery Kempe, 15th century mystic, intrepid world traveler, and author of the first autobiography in the English language.
Her 2018 novel ECSTASY , drawn from the dramatic life of composer and life artist Alma Schindler Mahler, has been praised by NPR as “historical fiction at its best.”
Mary’s explorations into the hidden histories of Renaissance women compelled her to write THE DARK LADY’S MASK , based on the story of the ground-breaking poet, Aemilia Bassano Lanier.
Mary lived for eighteen years in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, the setting for her acclaimed novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE WITCHING HILL, which recasts the Pendle Witches of 1612 in their historical context as cunning folk and healers.
Previously she lived in Germany. This, along with her interest in sacred music and herbal medicine, inspired her to write her award-winning ILLUMINATIONS: A NOVEL OF HILDEGARD VON BINGEN, which explores the life of the 12th century Benedictine abbess, composer, polymath, and powerfrau.
Winner of the 2013 Nautilus Gold Award, the 2005 WILLA Literary Award, and a Minnesota Book Award Finalist, Mary has also written the novels SUMMIT AVENUE, THE REAL MINERVA, THE VANISHING POINT, and co-edited the subversive fiction anthology BITCH LIT, which celebrates female anti-heroes–strong women who break all the rules. Her short fiction has been published in Twin Cities Noir and elsewhere.
Mary’s articles and essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Publisher’s Weekly, Enchanted Living, Lit Hub, Minnesota Magazine, and Historical Novels Review. When she isn’t writing, she’s usually riding her spirited Welsh mare.
More:
Fairy Tales for Women: Writing Exercise
By Mary Sharratt
Through a Dark Forest: On Fairy Tales as Women’s Stories and on Writing Summit Avenue
By Mary Sharratt
Summit Avenue Author Uses Fairy Tales to Break Through Clichés
By Mary Ann Grossman
Moments of Enchantment (at strangehorizons.com)
By Christopher Cobb
About Mary Sharratt
An American author living on the Silver Coast of Portugal, Mary Sharratt is on a mission to write women back into history. She is the author of Revelations and seven previous critically acclaimed novels, including Daughters of the Witching Hill, the Nautilus Award–winning Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen, The Dark Lady’s Mask: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Muse, and Ecstasy, about the life, loves, and music of Alma Mahler. When she is not writing, you can find her riding her beautiful Welsh mare.
Mary’s Newsletter
