# Bella Bathurst

Bella Bathurst (born in 1969 in London) is an English writer, photojournalist, and furniture maker. Her novel The Lighthouse Stevensons won the 2000 Somerset Maugham Award.

## Biography

Bathurst was born in London and presently lives in Scotland. She lost "her hearing in her twenties and then unexpectedly regaining it twelve years later," which she explores in her 2017 book Sound.
Aside from writing, Bathurst has worked as a freelance journalist, photographer, and illustrator. Her writing has appeared in such publications as The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, The Sunday Times, and The Washington Post.

## Awards

The Lighthouse Stevensons won the 2000 Somerset Maugham Award and was nominated for the 1999 Guardian First Book Award. List Magazine named it one of the "100 Best Scottish Books of all time." Upon release, The Lighthouse Stevensons was generally well-received among British press. The Daily Telegraph reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Observer, Sunday Times, Independent On Sunday, Spectator, and Literary Review reviews under "Love It" and Guardian review under "Pretty Good". The Guardian gave the novel an average rating of 8.8 out of 10 based on reviews from multiple British newspapers. Booklist and Publishers Weekly gave the book starred reviews.
Special was longlisted for the Orange Prize and was generally well-received among British press. The Daily Telegraph reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": Daily Telegraph, Independent, Independent On Sunday, and Spectator reviews under "Love It" and Times review under "Pretty Good" and Observer review under "Ok" and Guardian review under "Rubbish".
The Wreckers was generally well-received. On Metacritic, the book received a 75 out of 100 based on eleven critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On Bookmarks November/December 2005 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (3.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with the critical summary stating, "It’s hard to write a nonfiction book with limited sources and no way to properly authenticate what you write. But award-winning Bathurst (The Lighthouse Stevensons) seems up to the task, impressing critics with the thoroughness of her research (she interviewed 200 people and read travelers’ journals and newspaper reports) and the spirited way she integrates surprising facts, entertaining anecdotes, and fictional accounts".
Sound received starred reviews from Shelf Awareness.
Field Work was generally well-received. In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.29 out of 5) from the site which was based on three critic reviews.

## Publications

* The Lighthouse Stevensons (1999)
* Special (2002)
* The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks, from the 18th-Century to the Present Day (2005)
* The Bicycle Book (2011)
* The Omega Point: The search for the secret of human consciousness (2015)
* Sound: A Story of Hearing Lost and Found (2017)
* Field Work: What Land Does to People What People Do to Land (2021)