ABOUT AJ
AJ Pearce was born in Hampshire, UK. Her favourite subjects at school were English and History, which now (finally) makes sense. She majored in American History at the University of Sussex, spending her Junior Year at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA.
She has been published in the USA, Canada and Australia and in translation in over fifteen languages. In 2018 her debut novel Dear Mrs Bird was a Sunday Times Bestseller and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards Debut of the Year and the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown for best historical debut.
Her second novel, the sequel Yours Cheerfully, was published in 2021 and was a Times Top 10 hit. It was followed in 2023 by Mrs Porter Calling is the third in The Emmy Lake Chronicles series. The final book in the series, Dear Miss Lake is now out in all formats.
AJ has appeared at bookshops, literary events and festivals across the UK, including The Persephone Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Henley, Durham and Guildford, and headlined events at The Imperial War Museum and The British Library.
She has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book and Saturday Live, as well Radio 4’s Book Club in conversation with James Naughtie and readers.
AJ is an inspiring and fun speaker, and has led writing workshops ranging from the Arvon Foundation’s Masterclass series through to writing a book in forty-five minutes with children in Years 3 to 5.
When not talking about, researching, or writing books, AJ enjoys being fairly rubbish at a variety of hobbies, including painting, sewing and trying to prove that you are never too old to learn how to do a decent barbell sumo deadlift.
You can keep up with AJ through Notes of Cheer, her free monthly Substack newsletter, which is all about finding the tonics in our unruly times. You’ll get writing updates, book recommendations and loads of info about cheerful things she has been seeing and doing. Sign up via the form at the foot of this page or say hello on Instagram, Facebook and Substack where she will be spending time when she really should she be writing.
PS: Many thanks to Ginetta George and all the team at Detail Design Consultants who designed this website. I can’t recommend them highly enough!
