Elizabeth Buchan, née Oakleigh-Walker (born 21 May 1948) is a British writer of non-fiction and fiction books since 1985. In 1994, her novel Consider the Lily won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association,[1] and she was elected its eighteenth Chairman (1995–1997).[2] Her novel, Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman (2001), has been made into a television film for CBS.[3]
Elizabeth Mary Oakleigh-Walker was born on 21 May 1948 in Guildford, Surrey, England,[4] the daughter of Major Peter Oakleigh-Walker and Eleanor Mary Peters. In the 1970s, she obtained a double degree in English and History at the University of Kent at Canterbury.[3]
On 20 April 1974, she married Benjamin William Alastair Buchan (b. 1948), grandson of the novelist and politician John Buchan. They have one son, Adam Peter Alastair Buchan (b. 1980), and a daughter, Eleanor Rose Buchan (b. 1983).[5]
She started working as a blurb writer for Penguin Books (1974–1989), and later, since 1989 as fiction editor at Random House.[3] After the publication of her third novel, she became a full-time writer. She lives in London. Her short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She has been a judge for Whitbread (now Costa) Awards, and has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot Awards and reviews for the Sunday Times. She is also a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and the National Academy of Writing.
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