Karen Powell was born in Rochester, Kent. She left school at 16 but returned to education as a mature student to study English Literature at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She lives in North Yorkshire. An early draft of The River Within was awarded a Northern Writers’ TLC ‘New Fiction Reads’ prize, which seeks to support work-in-progress by new, emerging and established writers across the North of England.
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Karen Powell
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“Powell shows hard-nosed empathy in portraying individuals’ private demons in the context of social realities. Her novel about love, class, and secrecy in 1950s England reads as if it were written in the era the characters inhabit, her style and tone reminiscent of an earlier...— Kirkus Review (STARRED REVIEW), Aug 1 2021![]()
"A gripping mystery, revealing dark truths around class and love in the aftermath of war, with beautiful prose depicting Yorkshire and life on a country estate."— The Yorkshire Post, Aug 1 2021![]()
“Beautifully attentive to both its Yorkshire setting and its Hamlet ur-text, and written in prose as alive and evocative as Millais' painting of Ophelia, singing as the river and reeds claim her.”— Preti Taneja, author of We That Are Young, Aug 1 2021![]()
“Utterly stunning, with prose that reads like a painting. It brims with heartbreaking moments of pain and betrayal and quiet joy. It recalls the best of Graham Swift and Thomas Hardy. Each sentence is so pristine and finely tuned that it took my breath away, and like its very...— Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and Circus of Wonders, Aug 1 2021![]()
“Hamlet comes to fifties Yorkshire in this compelling riff on love, grief and family strife. Powell is a talent to watch.” —Lisa Appignanesi, author of Everyday Madness— Lisa Appignanesi, author of Everyday Madness, Aug 1 2021![]()
“It reads like a mid-century mystery written by Hardy or George Eliot – it’s really that good.”— Tea Time Book Recommendations podcast, Aug 1 2021![]()
“This is a fine mystery as well as a fine story. People fond of well-written fiction will love this tale of class lines, young angst and our obligation to ourselves and to others.”— Auntie’s Bookstore (Spokane, WA), Aug 1 2021![]()
“It is a quietly assured, beautifully written and thought provoking novel, that deserves to be widely read and appreciated.”— Years of Reading Selfishly, Aug 1 2021![]()
“Consistently elegant and absorbing, "The River Within" is a supremely accomplished first work.”— Star Tribune, Aug 1 2021![]()
“Powell has not written a pale imitation of “The Crown” or “Downton Abbey.” The River Within contains multitudes; it’s a fresh look at the pressures our caste systems place upon all of us, no matter where we come from.”— Los Angeles Times, Aug 1 2021![]()
On a summer afternoon in 1955, teenagers Alexander, Tom and his sister Lennie discover the body of their friend Danny in the river on the Richmond estate - home of the aristocratic Alexander and his mother Lady Venetia. But did Danny jump or was he pushed? So begins a twisting...— Heat Magazine, Sep 23 2020
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