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WORK TITLE: The Unforgotten
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.laurajaynepowell.com/
CITY: London
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Wales.
EDUCATION:University of Warwick, B.A.; Goldsmiths, University of London, M.A.; graduate of the Faber Academy.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, novelist, poet, short-story writer, editor, and journalist. Daily Telegraph, London, England, commissioning editor. Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, features writer. Economia, deputy editor; Elite Traveler, managing editor.
AWARDS:New Writer’s Bursary, Literature Wales, 2013; Scott Trust Bursary, Guardian Media Group.
WRITINGS
Contributor of poems and short stories to literary magazines and anthologies; contributor of features and interviews to magazines and newspapers, including the London Guardian, Observer, and the Evening Standard.
SIDELIGHTS
Writer, novelist, and journalist Laura Powell is a commissioning editor at the Daily Telegraph in London, England. In her career in newspaper journalism, noted a writer on the Laura Powell Website, she has been a features writer for the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday and a contributor of features and interviews to major papers such as the Guardian (London), Observer (London), and the Evening Standard. She has also worked in magazine journalism as the deputy editor of the magazine Economia and the managing editor of Elite Traveler. Originally from Wales, she received a New Writer’s Bursary from Literature Wales in 2013. Powell holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from the University of Warwick and an M.A. from Goldsmiths, University of London.
The Unforgotten, Powell’s “gripping debut novel,” centers on a murder investigation in Cornwall in 1956, noted Booklist reviewer Fiona McMahon. Set in the fishing village of St. Steel, the story opens with fifteen-year-old protagonist Betty Broadbent and her unpredictable mother Delores, keepers of a local hotel, experiencing the full force of a major media frenzy. Multiple reporters prowl the small town looking for information on several murders that have happened there, killings involving several young women who ended up brutally slain. The reporters’ presence throws the whole area into turmoil. The reporters take up residence in the Broadbents’ hotel, but it soon falls to Betty to run the establishment as her unstable mother falls deeper and deeper into alcoholism and the apparent effects of bipolar disorder. Betty finds herself attracted to Mr. Gallagher, a gruff but determined reporter twice her age, and eventually the two begin a tentative, if ill advised, romance. As the search for the killer continues, Betty and Gallagher become more deeply involved. Her experiences affect Betty psychologically, and the second half of the novel deals with what happened to Betty as she slipped into mental illness. Mixed into the narrative is the story of another character, Mary, who looks back on the events of 1956 some fifty years after they occurred while she makes plans to reconnect with a person she knew in St. Steel during that dreadful summer.
A Kirkus Reviews writer called The Unforgotten a “satisfying mystery as well as a complex portrait of the effects of emotional trauma and mental illness.” In Publishers Weekly, a contributor commented favorably on the “surprising emotional heft of the narrative, which traces the damage wrought by secrets and good intentions gone awry.” Reviewer Penelope J. M. Klein, writing in Xpress Reviews, concluded that Powell “adroitly weaves secrets, promises, fear, and guilt into an absorbing story of love and loss with an astounding conclusion.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, January 1, 2018, Fiona McMahon, review of The Unforgotten, p. 50.
Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2017, review of The Unforgotten.
Publishers Weekly, November 27, 2017, review of The Unforgotten, p. 28.
Xpress Reviews, January, 2018. Penelope J.M. Klein, review of The Unforgotten.
ONLINE
Bibliomaniac, https://www.thebibliomaniacbookblog.com/ (July 20, 2015), Keith B. Walters, review of The Unforgotten.
Laura Powell Website, http://www.laurajaynepowell.com (May 7, 2018).
Laura Powell is a journalist. Several of her poems and short stories have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and she was awarded a New Writer’s Bursary from Literature Wales in 2013.
LAURA POWELL is a Commissioning Editor at the Daily Telegraph. She has worked as a Features Writer at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, and as Deputy Editor of Economia and Managing Editor of Elite Traveler. She has written features and interviews for The Guardian, The Observer, the Evening Standard, and various women’s magazines.
Laura has won several awards including a Scott Trust Bursary from the Guardian Media Group and a New Writer’s Bursary from Literature Wales. She read English Literature at the University of Warwick, completed her MA at Goldsmiths, University of London and she is also a graduate of the Faber Academy. Originally from Wales, she now lives in London.
The Unforgotten is her first novel.
The Unforgotten
Fiona McMahon
Booklist. 114.9-10 (Jan. 1, 2018): p50+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
The Unforgotten.
By Laura Powell.
Feb. 2018. 320p. Gallery, $25.95 (9781501181221); e-book (9781501181238).
In Powell's gripping debut novel, there is a murderer on the loose in the Cornish fishing village of St. Steele. It's 1956, and Betty Broadbent lands in the middle of a media frenzy, along with her capricious mother. As the murders continue, Betty finds herself attracted to a particular reporter, Mr. Gallagher. Her initial feelings of admiration develop into affection, and he reciprocates her advances. Their relationship holds one problem: Betty is 15, and Gallagher is 30. Their relationship necessitates secrecy, which becomes a dilemma when, following one of her meetings with Gallagher, Betty sees the killer. She is faced with two options: tell the truth and expose her relationship, leaving Gallagher likely to be imprisoned, or protect Gallagher and allow the innocent man who has been arrested to rot in prison. From Powell's vivid descriptions of the seaside to the sensitive handling of the moral implications of Betty and Gallaghers relationship to a genuinely surprising plot twist, The Unforgotten is entirely unforgettable.--Fiona McMahon
YA: Teen thriller fans will likely be drawn in by 15-year-old Betty's perspective and Powell's twisty plot. SH.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
McMahon, Fiona. "The Unforgotten." Booklist, 1 Jan. 2018, p. 50+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525185635/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=14fa5d7c. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A525185635
Powell, Laura: THE UNFORGOTTEN
Kirkus Reviews. (Dec. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Powell, Laura THE UNFORGOTTEN Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (Adult Fiction) $25.99 2, 6 ISBN: 978-1-5011-8122-1
Cornwall, 1956: a young woman is drawn to an older man who's come to investigate a string of murders in Powell's debut psychological thriller.
When a series of gruesome murders terrorizes the seaside town of St. Steele, reporters descend on the Cornish coast to get the scoop. The men take up residence at a boardinghouse run by the lovely and unstable Dolores Broadbent and her daughter, Betty. At 15, Betty often takes on the responsibility of running the hotel because of her mother's tendency to drown her loneliness in alcohol. She exudes confidence as a flirt with the local boys but finds herself tongue-tied around the male reporters, especially the irascible Mr. Gallagher, who seems content to tap her as a "cheap source" for information about the chief murder suspect. Soon, however, they develop an undeniable attraction despite the fact that Mr. Gallagher is twice Betty's age, and, against the grisly backdrop of the town tragedy, they begin a star-crossed love affair. The novel cuts between the story of that summer in 1956 and the actions of a character named Mary 50 years later. No spoilers here, but the two narratives are, of course, inextricably linked. While it's a bit hard to accept the May-December romance between the main characters, the effect that this relationship has on Betty is harrowing. The second half of the novel, tracing Betty's psychological trauma, is haunting and complex. It's a real portrait of mental illness, and while it doesn't make for light reading, it creates an emotional impact. There is, of course, also a reveal of the real killer in the last 20 pages, and the mystery is fairly believable and chilling.
A satisfying mystery as well as a complex portrait of the effects of emotional trauma and mental illness.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Powell, Laura: THE UNFORGOTTEN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A516024675/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3b4ec687. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A516024675
The Unforgotten
Publishers Weekly. 264.48 (Nov. 27, 2017): p28.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Unforgotten
Laura Powell. Gallery, $25.99 (320p)
ISBN 978-1-5011-8122-1
In her thoroughly satisfying and suspenseful debut, Powell offers a twisty, dark murder mystery that is as much about taboos and secrets as it is a whodunit. Fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent's Cornish village, St. Steele, is usually fairly quiet. But when a series of young women are brutally murdered in the area during the summer of 1956, the coastal community--not to mention the inn managed by Betty's volatile and promiscuous mother--is inundated by journalists. One of them, a Mr. Gallagher, takes an interest in Betty that quickly goes beyond mere friendship and that affects the shape not only of the investigation but also of both their lives. Scenes from that brutal and eventful summer are interspersed with a more contemporary narrative set 50 years later, in which a woman known as Mary--recently diagnosed with breast cancer--grows increasingly determined to connect with a figure she once knew in St. Steele. While some of the narrative's revelations will come as little surprise, others are genuinely unnerving. And the final twist in the murder plot will catch many readers unaware, as will the surprising emotional heft of the narrative, which traces the damage wrought by secrets and good intentions gone awry. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Unforgotten." Publishers Weekly, 27 Nov. 2017, p. 28. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A517575612/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b9efb99e. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A517575612
Powell, Laura. The Unforgotten
Penelope J.M. Klein
Xpress Reviews. (Jan. 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Full Text:
Powell, Laura. The Unforgotten. Gallery: S. & S. Feb. 2018. 304p. ISBN 9781501181221. $25.99; pap. ISBN 9781501184253. $16; ebk. ISBN 9781501181238. F
[DEBUT] A multiple murderer is at work in the Cornish fishing village of St. Steele in this sophisticated debut by a Daily Telegraph journalist. It is 1956, and the victims are young women. The killer acts as though unassailable. Such crimes inevitably attract the country's media who flock to the village. Once there, most of the journalists stay at the Hotel Eden, managed by Delores Broadbent and her 15-year-old daughter, Betty. Delores displays signs of bipolar disorder; her bouts of depression force the teenager to care for her mother and manage the hotel. The naive Betty becomes fascinated by Gallagher, one of the journalists, who has a mysterious allure as he is obviously cut from a very different cloth than his rough-and-ready colleagues. Despite Betty's age, her friendship with Gallagher deepens as the deaths in St. Steele continue. Their feelings and actions entangle the two in the killings, and they make personal choices that shape their own lives and that of an innocent man.
Verdict First novelist Powell adroitly weaves secrets, promises, fear, and guilt into an absorbing story of love and loss with an astounding conclusion.--Penelope J.M. Klein, Fayetteville, NY
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Klein, Penelope J.M. "Powell, Laura. The Unforgotten." Xpress Reviews, Jan. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525404005/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a98bf2e0. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A525404005
Book Review: The Unforgotten by Laura Powell
July 20, 2015keithbwalters
Published 3rd July by Hesperus Nova.
25246282Goodreads Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent helps her erratic and beautiful mother run the Hotel Eden, a boarding house now besieged by reporters, keen for juicy gossip and eye-catching headlines. They are there because the Cornish seaside town has recently witnessed a string of murders, young girls stabbed to death. Among the newspaper jackals, Mr. Gallagher stands out. Quiet, serious Mr. Gallagher—Betty is fascinated by his mysterious nature and desperate to be noticed by him and not be treated as a child. As he and Betty get to know each other, through snatched conversation and illicit meetings, their feelings for each other grow. But she soon starts to realize how little she knows about the older, enigmatic journalist. With a dangerous cloud looming over the town, Betty starts to take risks to see him and hide secrets from her mother, her friends, and even herself—secrets that will echo through the years and affect the lives of many. Beautifully written with skilllfully drawn characters, evocative language, and set partially in 1956 with perfect period depiction, this is an astonishing tour de force from debut author Laura Powell.
My Review: I actually received this proof from the publisher via my dad and I hadn’t previously heard of them – or the book itself – but after finishing it, rather in awe, I’d love to see what this imprint also publishes… and what Powell will write in the future!
The Unforgotten is set in two times; 1965, and the present day. In 1965, Betty lives in the hotel with her mother, whilst it’s overrun with journalists clamouring to get scoops on the murder spree happening in the village. As tensions are rising, so is Betty’s fixation with Mr Ghallager, one of the local reporters.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect of the story and it was a lot darker than its pretty book jacket lets on. It didn’t feel like a clichéd ‘whodunnit?’ novel. It was simply stunning. I couldn’t predict who the killer was at all. I was swept up in the story – reading it in a day. The pages were practically turning themselves, as horrifying murders took place while a perilous connection between Betty and Mr Ghallager developed.
I was surprised at how invested I became in the lives of the central characters as they all unravelled mysteries. Betty was a little quirky and a really likeable character to read about – in the past and present.
Reading about the characters in 1959 then as elderly people, in the present day, made the story even more brilliant. I don’t think I’ve read many ‘split’ stories like it but it gave the mystery a new depth, as I tried to piece together evidence from the present day and the sixties. It was also a really interesting way to see how the characters changed and grew.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend The Unforgotten. I think it will appeal to teens and adults alike – especially to fans of Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. The characters are really well formed and I haven’t been able to get them out of my head – especially after the bewildering ending!