Helen Carey

Helen Carey is best known as the author of the ongoing wartime Lavender Road series. Published by Orion, these novels follow the lives of people living in one south London street during the second world war. Inspired by real, local events, they are designed to bring the impact of war and the courage of those ‘left behind’ to the widest possible audience. Helen has also published a crime novel Slick Deals (TSAP, 2011), which explores the danger of potential oil exploration off the Pembrokeshire coast where she now lives, and a light, slightly tongue-in-cheek romance The Art of Loving (TSAP, 2012).

For some years Helen worked as a reader for a literary agency and a publishing house and she has been a judge for several writing competitions. Building on this experience, and her work with students for the RLF, Helen teaches creative writing in a number of universities where she specialises in story structure and characterisation. Helen also writes short stories and articles. She is a keen traveller and has recently been shortlisted for the Observer and Bradt Guide travel-writing competition.

Prior to her writing career Helen was a management consultant in London but she has always been interested in the arts and the environment. She and her husband are now delighted to have the opportunity to run their small coastal farm as a conservation project. They have also recently converted an old goat shed into a gallery where Helen displays her paintings.