Sally Gardner

Sally Gardner is a British novelist and illustrator whose work ranges across historical fiction, fantasy, dystopia and magical realism. Before becoming a writer, she trained at art college and worked as a theatre costume designer, experiences that contributed to the strong visual atmosphere, elaborate clothing and dramatic settings of her novels. Gardner is dyslexic and did not learn to read until she was fourteen; she has since become a prominent advocate for recognising the creative strengths of dyslexic and neurodivergent people. Her many honours include the Smarties Children’s Book Prize for I, Coriander, while the dystopian novel Maggot Moon received both the Costa Children’s Book Award and the Carnegie Medal.

History frequently provides the foundation for Gardner’s imaginative storytelling, although she often combines documented settings with folklore, Gothic mystery and supernatural elements. I, Coriander depicts London during the Commonwealth and Restoration, while The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade follow young characters caught up in the French Revolution. Other historically rooted novels include the Second World War story The Double Shadow, the Thirty Years’ War fairy tale Tinder, the Victorian time-slip adventure The Door That Led to Where and the Georgian novels The Weather Woman and The Bride Stone. Writing as Wray Delaney, Gardner has also produced adult historical fiction, including An Almond for a Parrot and The Beauty of the Wolf.