Caroline Lawrence Bio :: The Roman Mysteries

Biography of Caroline Lawrence
by Top Fan Jessica Nelson (aged 11) 12/12/03

Today there are many books to read but none are like the great 'Roman Mysteries' by Caroline Lawrence. This American author has an original style in her books and her life.

Caroline Day Weiss (later known as Caroline Lawrence) was born in London, May 24th 1954. Her parents, Louis and Patricia Weiss, were both American. Caroline has two siblings, a younger brother and sister. They saw a lot of California as they moved house regularly. When Caroline was one, her family moved to Bakersfield in California: her mother's hometown. At the age of eleven her family moved once again but this time to Stanford where her father was studying for a PhD. Throughout this travelling Caroline did have pets. Her family had a dog called Duchess and later they adopted a dog which Caroline named Simba ('lion' in Swahili).

As a child, Caroline wasn't special. She didn't want to be a writer until she was about thirty. When she was eleven she wanted to be an officer on the Starship Enterprise! Later she kept her fascination of space and wanted to be an astronaut. She was devastated when she found out she couldn't, as she was rubbish at maths! So Caroline decided to study baboons instead 'and see Africa' but she was also rubbish at biology. She finally rested on studying Ancient Rome and Greece as she was good at learning languages.

Then in 1998 she decided to try and be a writer. She had always been a writer at heart with her inherited love of words from her father (an English and Drama teacher) and love of art from her mother (who was an artist). She also, like all good writers read a lot when she was young. Her favourite books were 'My Family and Other Animals' by Gerald Durrell and the Nancy Drew mysteries which kept her occupied for hours.

Caroline's inspiration to write about Rome comes from her skill of learning languages and an early trip to Italy. She loved the country especially the port of Ostia which she visited at the age of sixteen. Ostia became such a favourite of hers and she made it the base of her stories many years later. In 1973 she read the Iliad and books by Mary Renault which got her interested in classics. Her skill with languages helped her with the exams she took in Greek and Latin. When she was 18, she attended U.C. Santa Barbara for a year. At the age of 20, she attended U.C. Berkeley and studied Greek and Latin for three years. After finishing at Berkeley she flew to Cambridge and Newnham College on a Marshall scholarship to read Classics. Finally after many years of hard work, Caroline graduated from Cambridge with a first.

Just one year after graduating, Caroline Weiss became Caroline Tondeur when she married Keith Tondeur. They lived together in Essex and in 1981 her only son Simon was born. When Simon was five though, Caroline and Keith divorced and Caroline moved back to London with Simon. She got a job teaching French, Latin and Art at Simon's Primary School: Dolphin School.

In 1989 Caroline took an MA in Hebrew and Jewish studies. With her gift of language she, of course, got it (at University College London). Three years later she married Richard Russell Lawrence, a graphic designer and Caroline finally started writing properly.

For her books Caroline takes inspiration from the Greek myths. She also reads a lot: her favourite books are Zorba the Greek, Patrick O'Brian's sea novels and 'My Family and Other Animals' that she read as a child.

Her favourite land animal is the cheetah and the Dolphin her favourite water beast. She has many hobbies such as learning languages, going to the cinema and listening to music. She likes a lot of music especially 'West Coast Jazz' or 'Lounge'. Her favourite jazz guitarists include Larry Carlton, George Benson and Chris Standring. Jazz pianists such as Bill Evans and David Benoit she loves and also listens often to Miles Davis, Rick Braun and Chris Botti: jazz trumpeters.

Caroline has been known to happily say that she could not survive in Roman times as there was no chocolate! Her other favourite meals are salad and lemons!

Her all time favourite film is 'Star Wars: A New Hope'. But her favourite Roman film is 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'. She is obsessed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, too. Caroline became hooked on this series when she and her husband appeared in a Sunnydale Campus scene in Series 4.

As the great writer she is today, Caroline Lawrence lives happily with her husband Richard by the river in London. (Her son Simon is now grown up and married and living in Hawaii, doing film studies.)

Caroline has another saga planned: 'The Qartmin Trilogy' about 6th century Byzantium, but with seven Roman Mysteries published and a contract to write eleven more she is very well off anyway.

With over twelve countries gripped by 'Mystery Mania' let's hope Caroline Lawrence continues to write her fantastic books!

by Jessica Nelson (reproduced with permission)

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