Paula Byrne
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Paula Byrne

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Paula was born in Birkenhead in 1967, the third daughter in a large working-class Catholic family. She studied at the University of Liverpool and now lives in Oxford with her husband, the Shakespeare scholar Sir Jonathan Bate, and their three children (Tom, Ellie and Harry). She is founder and Chief Executive of ReLit, the charity for literature and mental health. Paula is represented by The Wylie Agency. Her most recent book is a biography of Kathleen ‘Kick’ Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy’s favourite sister, who married the heir to Chatsworth House before her early, tragic death. Before this, Paula wrote the tie-in book to the award-winning movie, Belle, in which she told the true story of the black slave girl who was brought up by the Lord Chief Justice of England in the years leading up to the abolition of the slave trade. In January 2013, to coincide with the bicentenary of the first publication of Pride and Prejudice, she published an innovative biography called The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. It was a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. Her previous book, Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead, told the story of Evelyn Waugh’s friendship with the extraordinary aristocratic family who inspired Brideshead Revisited. It was also a Sunday Times top ten bestseller and in the USA it was serialized in Vanity Fair. Paula’s first top ten bestseller was Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson. A selection for the 2005 Richard and Judy Book Club and a British Book Awards ‘Best Read’ nomination, it was also long-listed for the prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize. The book tells the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century actress, poet, novelist, feminist, celebrity and royal mistress Mary ‘Perdita’ Robinson (1757-1800). Paula’s first book, shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize, was Jane Austen and the Theatre, published in 2002 and reissued in paperback by Bloomsbury. Paul Johnson of The Spectator chose it as his best-ever book on Jane Austen and the Times Literary Supplement described it as a ‘definitive and pioneering study of a wholly neglected aspect of Austen’s art.’ Paula has also edited a Routledge Literary Sourcebook on Jane Austen’s Emma and is a regular reviewer for the Saturday Times.
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  • Kick Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    • Kick

    • The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth
    • By: Paula Byrne
    • Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
    • Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
    • Release date: 07-05-16
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 90 ratings

    Regular price: $25.19 or 1 credit

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  • The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

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  • Hardy Women Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    • Hardy Women

    • Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses
    • By: Paula Byrne
    • Narrated by: Dawn Murphy
    • Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
    • Release date: 02-01-24
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 1 rating

    Regular price: $30.48 or 1 credit

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  • The Real Jane Austen Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

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  • Look to Your Wife Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

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  • Mad World Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    • Mad World

    • Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead
    • By: Paula Byrne
    • Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
    • Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
    • Release date: 08-19-21
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 1 rating

    Regular price: $27.58 or 1 credit

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  • The Real Jane Austen Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    Regular price: $26.13 or 1 credit

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  • Kick: The True Story of Kick Kennedy, JFK's Forgotten Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    Regular price: $27.58 or 1 credit

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  • Belle Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    • Belle

    • The True Story of Dido Belle
    • By: Paula Byrne
    • Narrated by: Maggie Mash
    • Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
    • Release date: 05-08-14
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 3 ratings

    Regular price: $23.22 or 1 credit

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  • The Genius of Jane Austen Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    Regular price: $26.13 or 1 credit

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  • Perdita Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    • Perdita

    • The Life of Mary Robinson
    • By: Paula Byrne
    • Narrated by: Diana Bishop
    • Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
    • Release date: 08-19-21
    • Language: English
    • Not rated yet

    Regular price: $30.48 or 1 credit

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  • Mirror, Mirror Audiobook By Paula Byrne cover art

    Regular price: $26.13 or 1 credit

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