Joan Lingard

Life
1932- ; b. Edinburgh; dg. naval reservist and a Christian Scientist mother; brought to Belfast at age of two, and raised there; ed., Bloomfield Collegiate School; mother died when she was sixteen; left Belfast at 18, following her father back to Scotland; schoolteacher to 1962, then writer; best known for Kevin and Sadie Books [or Quintet] (1970-88), based on Troubles in Northern Ireland and dealing with teenagers from different sides of the sectarian divide who fall in love;
 
The Twelfth Day of July (1970) and Across the Barricades (1986), which won the Buxtedhuder Bulle Award (W. Germany); numerous novels after Liam’s Daughter (1963) [set in N. Ireland and France]; Sisters by Rite (1984); Reasonable Doubts (1987); The Women’s House (1989) depicts the enduring friendship of three women of different generations; also After Colette (1993); approached by BBC to write 16-part drama about Belfast for children, c.1995; ploughed her research into a new teenager novel set in Belfast, Dark Shadows (1998), the story of the Magowans. ATT

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Works
Novels
  • Liam’s Daughter (London: Hodder & Stoughton 1963).
  • The Prevailing Wind (London: Hodder & Stoughton 1964).
  • The Tide Comes In (London: Hodder & Stoughton 1966).
  • The Headmaster (London: Hodder & Stoughton 1967).
  • The Lord on Our Side (London: Hodder & Stoughton 1970).
  • The Second Flowering of Emily Mountjoy (Edinburgh: Harris 1979).
  • Sisters by Rite (London: Hamish Hamilton 1984).
  • Reasonable Doubts (London: Hamish Hamilton 1986; Trafalgar 1987).
  • The Women’s House (London: Hamish Hamilton 1989).
  • After Colette (Sinclair Stevenson 1993).
For children
‘Kevin and Sadie Quartet’
  • Twelfth Day of July: A Novel of Modern Ireland (London: Hamish Hamilton 1970), Do., another edn (NY 1975).
  • Across the Barricades (London: Hamish Hamilton 1972).
  • Into Exile (London: Hamish Hamilton 1973).
  • A Proper Place (London: Hamish Hamilton 1975).
‘The Maggie Quartet’
  • The Clearance (London: Beaver 1981).
  • The Resettling (London: Beaver 1987).
  • The Pilgrimage (London: Beaver 1989).
  • The Reunion (London: Beaver 1989).
Other titles for children
  • The Gooseberry (London: Beaver 1984).
  • The Winter Visitor (London: Beaver 1984).
  • The Tug of War (London: Beaver 1989).
  • Dark Shadows (London: Hamish Hamilton 1998).

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Commentary
Richard Deutsch, ‘“Within Two Shadows”: The Trouble in Northern Ireland’, in Patrick Rafroidi and Maurice Harmon, eds., The Irish Novel in Our Time, l’Université de Lille 1975-76, pp.132-54: comments on The Twelfth Day of July, Across the Barricades, and Into Exile, all reprinted in Puffin; ‘... atmosphere and description excellent ... however, one detects a leaning towards the Protestants and some sniping regarding the Catholics; the British Army is ‘decent’ and most people are ‘sensible’; pro-British on the Ulster Question ... .’ (p.146f.)

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Criticism
‘Writing in Hope’, Rosita Boland interviews Joan Lingard, Irish Times, 24 Oct. 1998, with photo-port; Tom Hubbard [interview], Joan Lingard talks to Tom Hubbard, in The Irish Review, 38, 1 (Spring 2008), pp.83-93.

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References
John Quinn, ed., A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl [RTE copyright 1985] (1986; Mandarin 1990), contains autobiographical contribution (pp.93-110).

Ann Owens Weekes, Attic Guide to Published Works of Irish Women Literary Writers (Dublin: Attic Press 1994), quotes wartime memories, ‘Belfast was the city of dark, whereas Dublin became the city of light’.

Katie Donovan, A. N. Jeffares & Brendan Kennelly, eds., Ireland’s Women (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 1994).

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Books in Print (Catalogue to 1994), Across the Barricades (London: Hamish Hamilton 1972; Windmill 1994) [0 43512 203 7]; Play (OUP 1990; D I Neville 1994) [0 19 831272 5]; After Colette (Sinclair Stevenson (1993, 1994) [0 19 831 272 5]; Between Two Worlds (Hamilton 1991; ) [US Puffin] [0 241 13133 7]; Can You Find Sammy the Hamster (Walker 1990), ill. J Lewis [0 7445 122 X); Glad Rags (Hamilton 1990, 1992) [0 241 13 0 15 8]; Guilty party (Hamilton 1987) [[0 241 12081 0], rep. (Penguin 1989, 1993) [0 14 03 2502 6]; Hands Off Our School (Hamilton 1992), ill. [?]Hudderwick [0 241 13261 4]; Hostages to Fortune (Penguin 1988, 1992) [014 0326251]; Into Exile (Hamilton 0241 02316 5]; Night Fires (Hamilton 1993) [0241 13404 8]; The Pilgrimage ([?]Piper 1994) [0 330 333 6 5]; Proper Place (Hamilton 1995, 1975, 1993) [0241 891 70 1]; Stranger in the House (Hamilton 1981, 1991) [0241 128 16 1]; Tug of War (Hamilton 1990, 1991) [0241 128161]; The Twelfth Day of July (Penguin 1989, 1994) [0 14 032506 9]; FLIPPER SERIES, Secrets and Surprises ([n. p.] 1992, 1994); Slo Flo and Boomerang ([n. p.] 1994); The Women’s House (St. Martin’s Press 1989) [0 312 03453 9]. Also The Battle of St George Without (Penguin 1978); The Day Mum Came Home [Nippers Series] (Macmillan 1976); The Day They Lost Granddad [Nipper Series] (Macmillan 1978); Free Parking and Other Stories (Beaver Books 1978); Goodbye, Dove Square (Puffin 1978); Look Who’s here [Nipper Series] (Macmillan 1976, 1978); Wait For It and Other Stories [Fanfare Series (Faber 1979] [See WHITAKER, BOWKER].

Hyland Books (Cat. 220; 1996) lists Twelfth Day of July: A Novel of Modern Ireland (NY 1975).

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