Adele parks author biography format

Less than a decade ago, bestselling novelist Adele Parks switched from writing romantic fiction to creating twisty domestic noir tales – and now she’s turning her hand to movies.

She’s been commissioned to write the screenplay of her 24th novel, First Wife’s Shadow, a psychological thriller which looks at the issue of living in the shadow of a previous wife, as a whirlwind relationship between Emma, a career-driven, independent woman in her 40s, and Matthew, a widower 12 years her junior, goes awry. Emma becomes obsessed with his late first wife… and then strange things start to happen.

“If I write the screenplay, we would be looking to try and get a green light on it over the next year and then film it,” says Parks, 55, whose books, including psychological thrillers Lies Lies Lies and Just Between Us, have sold in their millions and been translated into 31 languages.

Her husband, Jim, a former international marketing director and website designer who retrained at the National Film and Television School to help make their ambition of turning her previous book, The Image Of You, into a film, has also been involved in her movie journey.

The couple were executive producers of The Image Of You – a dark tale about a identical twin sisters and how one takes extreme measures to discover the truth about the man the other is dating – starring Pretty Little Liars actress Sasha Pieterse, which was released in May (on Amazon Prime).

Another adaptation of her novel, The Stranger In My Home, starring Sophia Bush and Chris Carmack, has already been filmed and is due for release next year.

“We have other meetings with other stories. I’ve got the bug now. I do really want to see a few more of my books adapted for screen.”

What gave you the idea for First Wife’s Shadow?

“I wanted to write about a woman who is completely sorted, financially successful, who has built her own home and is CEO of an energy company.

“We don

PERSONAL: Born in England; married (divorced, 2001); children: one son. Education: Studied English language and literature at Leicester University.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Penguin Publicity, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Also worked in advertising and as an English teacher.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Playing Away, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Game Over, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Larger Than Life, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Other Woman's Shoes, Penguin Books (London, England), 2003, published as Lust for Life, Downtown Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Still Thinking of You (Even Though I Shouldn't Be), Penguin Books (London, England), 2004.

Husbands, Penguin Books (London, England), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Best-selling author Adele Parks debuted in 2000 with the first of her successful female characters looking for love in London. In Playing Away, Connie Green is a sexy, married management consultant who begins an adulterous relationship with a colleague she meets at a business convention. With husband Luke often away on business, Connie is bored until John Harding catches her attention and she is swept into a wild affair with disastrous consequences. One reviewer, writing for Publishers Weekly, felt that Playing Away is "initially humorous," but later "enervating" and "predictable." However, the same critic noted that "Parks is astute about male/female interactions" and "has cleverness to spare." Deborah Rysso of Booklist called the novel "compelling" and "fun."

In Game Over, Parks tells the story of Jocasta "Cas" Perry, a television producer who has just launched a successful new reality show in which couples who are ready to commit to marriage are tempted by ex-lovers. Cas herself has never been fond of commitment—that is, until she meets charming, upstanding Darren, who refuses to lure his former girlfriend away from her fiancé

English author

Adele ParksMBE is an English women's fiction author. She has written 24 novels in her 24-year career as an author and is one of the bestselling authors of women's fiction in the United Kingdom.

Biography

Parks is from Teesside, near Middlesbrough, in North Yorkshire. She decided she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven. She studied English at the University of Leicester. Before becoming a novelist, Parks worked in advertising and management consultancy. Her debut novel, Playing Away, was released in 2000.

As of January 2025, she has sold more than 5.5 million UK edition copies of her novels and her books have been translated into 31 languages. Every one of her 23 novels are bestsellers in the UK.

She was awarded with an MBE in the New Year Honours List 2022. She was a judge of the Costa Book Awards in 2010 and has regularly been the judge of the Costa Short Story Awards. In 2009 she was awarded an honorary doctorate, a Doctor of Letters, by Teesside University. Her Quick Read book, Happy Families, won the Learners' Favourite Award. She is an ambassador for literacy charity The Reading Agency and a Patron of the National Literacy Trust. She is also a Patron of The Guildford Book Festival.

Lies, Lies, Lies was shortlisted for the 2020 Fiction Book of the Year in the British Book Awards.

In 2020, Parks entered a deal with MPCA and Engage Productions for cinematic adaptations of her books.

Personal life

Parks has been married twice, divorcing her first husband aged 32. She has an adult son, Conrad.

Works

• Playing Away (2000)
• Game Over (2001)
• Larger Than Life (2002)
• The Other Woman's Shoes (2003)
• Still Thinking of You (2004)
• Husbands (2005)
• Young Wives' Tales (2007)
• Happy Families (200