Jenny Lecoat
Jenny Lecoat is a screenwriter and novelist. A former stand-up comic, presenter, actor and feature writer for newspapers and magazines, she has spent thirty years writing for a range of formats including feature film, television drama, sitcoms and sketch shows, including consultancy work. Her debut, The Girl from the Channel Islands, was inspired by her own family’s history of Jersey during the Occupation and was a New York Times bestseller. She is married to writer Gary Lawson and lives in East Sussex.
Jenny’s Twitter: @JennyLecoat
Jenny’s Website: jennylecoat.com
Jenny Lecoat is represented at Jenny Brown Associates by Lisa Highton. For all enquiries contact lisa@jennybrownassociates.com
Books by Jenny
Beyond Summerland
Polygon, July 2024
North American rights: Graydon House/HarperCollins
ANZ rights: Allen & Unwin
German rights: Lubbe
French rights: Mercure de France
Jean Parris was a child when her adored father was taken away by the Nazis. As she and her mother wait anxiously for news, Jean starts to question everything around her.
Now, in the immediate aftermath of the liberation of Jersey in the summer of 1945, a different kind of war has been unleashed on the islands: one of suspicion, accusation and revenge. With the common enemy removed, the islanders now begin to see each other for who they truly are. For all the heroism and sacrifice, there were those who walked a fine line in order to survive and now find themselves accused of being on the wrong side of history. Loved ones are still missing, some never to return, and the island and its people will never be the same again.
Praise for Beyond Summerland:
Beyond Summerland is a beautifully written testament to both the resilience and duplicity of human nature in the most challenging and complex times . . . I absolutely loved it!
– Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things
The Girl from the Channel Islands
Jenny Lecoat’s debut, The Girl From The Channel Islands was first published in the UK under the title Hedy’s War. The book is based on the true story of Hedy Bercu, a young Jewish girl who fled to Jersey from Vienna to escape the Nazis, only to find herself once more trapped when the Germans invaded in 1940. The story of her struggle to survive the five year Occupation, involving a relationship with a German officer and eighteen months hidden away in the home of local woman Dorothea Le Brocq, is an extraordinary tale of terror, courage and forbidden love.
The novel was re-published in the UK by Polygon in July 2022 following international success. It made both the New York Times and Der Spiegel bestseller lists in 2021, and is now published in thirteen territories: UK (Polygon), USA & Canada (HarperCollins), Australia (Allen & Unwin), Argentina (El Ateneo), France (Mercure de France), Germany (Bastei Lubbi), Sweden (Historiska Media), Norway (Aschehoug), Poland (Proszynski), Israel (Modan), Portugal (Porto), Czech Republic (Moba), Romania (Prestige).
