Jo Baker (novelist)
Jo Baker is a British writer. She is the author of six novels, including the bestselling "Longbourn", a "New York Times" Notable Book, in development as a feature film with Random House Films and StudioCanal. She has also written short stories for BBC Radio 4 and reviews for "The Guardian" and "The New York Times Book Review". In 2018, she was awarded a Visiting Fellowship at the Queen's University Belfast, and she is currently an Honorary Fellow at Lancaster University. Early life and education. Baker was born and grew up in the village of Arkholme, in  Lancashire, England. She was educated at Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, and Somerville College, Oxford. She moved to Belfast in 1995 to study for an MA in Irish literature at Queen's University, where she went on to complete a PhD on the Anglo-Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen. Personal life. Baker lives in Lancaster with her husband, the playwright and screenwriter Daragh Carville, and their two children.