Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (born 13 August 1948) is a British writer of historical, romance and mystery novels. She normally writes under her own name, but has also used the pseudonyms Emma Woodhouse and Elizabeth Bennett. Cynthia was born on 13 August 1948 at Shepherd's Bush, London, England and wrote her first novel in 1972 while still at university.

Early life and education Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, England on 13 August 1948. She was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699. She then studied history, philosophy and English at the University of Edinburgh and University College London.

Career After leaving university, Cynthia had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, beginning as sales manager for The Coca-Cola Company in Edinburgh, and ending as pensions officer for the BBC in London. She started writing at university and, while employed, wrote in the evenings and during the weekends.

The birth of The Morland Dynasty series enabled her to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise 12 volumes, written alternately by two different writers. (This idea almost immediately proved impractical.) As of 2015, when the publisher dropped the series, the number of volumes had reached 35; in November 2022 they commissioned her to write a further volume, published in 2024. She also writes the internationally acclaimed Bill Slider mysteries.

Personal life Cynthia and her husband still live in London. They have three children. In addition to writing, her interests are horses, wine, architecture, the English countryside, and music: she plays in several amateur orchestras.

Awards

Cynthia wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award for The Waiting Game.

In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award for Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth-century Russia.