Brookner, Anita (1928-2016), was a British writer and art historian known for her novels about intellectual, self-sufficient women who are disappointed in their search for romance. Many of these women are middle-aged academics who feel isolated and dissatisfied with life. Brookner’s best fiction is noted for its refined, witty style. She won the 1984 Booker Prize, the United Kingdom’s best-known literary award, for Hotel du Lac (1984). The work portrays a 39-year-old author of romantic novels and her yearning for a perfect love.
Brookner was born on July 16, 1928, in London. Her first career was as an art historian. She earned a B.A. degree at King’s College of the University of London in 1949 and a Ph.D. at the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1953. In 1967, she became the first woman to hold the position of Slade Professor of Art at Cambridge University. Brookner was an expert on French art of the 1700’s and 1800’s. She wrote highly praised studies of the French artists Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, and Antoine Watteau.
Brookner did not turn to fiction until she was in her 50’s. Her first novel was A Start in Life (1981), which was published in the United States as The Debut. Brookner averaged a novel a year through the mid-1990’s. Her novels include Family and Friends (1985); A Friend from England (1987); Brief Lives (1990); A Closed Eye (1991); Fraud (1992); Family Romance, published in the United States as Dolly (1993); Altered States (1996); The Bay of Angels (2001); Making Things Better (2003); The Rules of Engagement (2004); and Strangers (2009). Brookner died on March 10, 2016.
