Order of Anita Brookner Books

English novelist Anita Brookner (1928-2016) achieved literary acclaim with her Booker Prize-winning work Hotel du Lac. A Londoner by birth, she pursued academic excellence at King's College, University of London, earning her B.A., before completing a Ph.D in art history at the prestigious Courtauld Institute. Her scholarly career flourished as she taught at the University of Reading from 1959 to 1964 and later became a Lecturer in Art History at the Courtauld. In a groundbreaking achievement, she served as Slade Professor at Cambridge from 1967 to 1968, becoming the first woman to hold this distinguished position.

Brookner transitioned to fiction writing, launching her literary career in 1981 with A Start in Life (also published as The Debut). Over nearly three decades, she crafted numerous novels before concluding her publishing journey with Strangers in 2009. Her works often explore themes of isolation and human connection, as exemplified in Look at Me, where a solitary art historian's attempt to embrace a glamorous couple's lifestyle leads to devastating disappointment.

Latecomers showcases Brookner's ability to blend humor with poignancy, chronicling a five-decade friendship between two German refugees who escaped Nazi Germany as children, illustrating how people navigate life's tragedies. Her shorter work, the 36-page At the Hairdresser's, follows the reclusive Elizabeth Warner, whose routine existence in a basement flat near Victoria is disrupted by an unexpected encounter during a hair appointment.

Several of Brookner's titles appeared under alternative names: A Family Romance was also released as Dolly, and The Next Big Thing became Making Things Better in some editions.