Joanna Brooks (born October, 1969) is a British author and journalist. She was named one of the "20 Women You Should Know" by Elle Magazine in 2001, and in 2006 HarperCollins published her first novel, "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". Her second novel, "The Other Woman", was published in 2008 and won the Costa Novel Award for Best First Novel. Brooks is a contributing editor at ELLE Magazine and is a columnist for the "Sunday Times" newspaper. She holds a degree in English literature from Oxford University and was a summer school student in Oxford in 1994. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and have sold over two million copies
In 2004 her debut novel, The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas, was made into a film directed by Mark Herman based on the book by John Boyne. In 2012 she published The Firm of Fear - an historical thriller set against the backdrop of Nazi Germany - which won the Costa Book of the Year Award 2013. It has been optioned for TV by Shine Group with Jamie Glover to write the script.
Brooks was born in London but grew up on a farm near York with her father who had been a captain in the Royal Engineers during World War II. She trained as a teacher after completing her degree at Oxford University but decided to pursue journalism instead. She currently lives with her husband and daughter on an old dairy farm near York where she writes every day.
In 2014 she published What You Do In Office Hours: A Guide to Creativity, Curiosity & Inspiration for Women Leaders, which has been best-selling ever since its release on 14 March 2014 . It has since been translated into nine languages. Brooks has worked for three years as a literary adviser at HarperCollins Publishers and works part-time as an events organiser for authors such as Stephen Fry and Daniel Craig.
She also gives talks to corporate executives about leadership and creativity throughout Asia, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and America.
No one says: when my family treated me as a stranger, I preferred the company of strangers, and I walked among strangers and what did I find but God in every one of their faces.Joanna Brooks
No one says: I broke rules, I broke rules, I broke rules - I broke all the rules. That one. And that one. And that one too. Yes, I did.Joanna Brooks
