Mary Doria Russell

For other people named Mary Russell, see Mary Russell (disambiguation).

Mary Doria Russell (born 1950) is an American novelist.

Mary Doria Russell
Mary Doria Russell speaking at a conference of the American Library Association in Philadelphia in January, 2008
Born	1950 (1950)
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	United States
Genre	Historical fiction
Website
Mary Doria Russell

Biography

Russell was born in the suburbs of Chicago. Her parents were both in the military: her father was a Marine Corps drill instructor, and her mother was a Navy nurse. She graduated from Glenbard East High School and later she earned a Ph.D in biological anthropology at the University of Michigan. She was raised as a Catholic but left the church at age fifteen, and her struggles to figure out how much of that culture to pass on to her children fueled the prominence of religion in her work.

Russell currently lives in Lyndhurst, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, with her husband, Don. They have a son, Dan.

Writing career

Two of Russell's novels — The Sparrow and its sequel Children of God — have as their subject first contact with aliens. Within the two works, she explores how one can reconcile the idea of a benevolent deity in a universe filled with pain and evil.

Russell's third novel, A Thread of Grace, tells a fictional story within the fact-based setting of the Resistance in Italy during World War II and the plight of Jewish refugees in Northern Italy escaping from Nazi persecution throughout Europe. During the Nazi occupation of their country, many real Italian citizens allowed Jewish refugees to seek safe harbour among their farmlands, cities, and ports. Although a work of fiction, much of story is based on accounts of actual survivors from this period. Russell herself is of Italian heritage and is also a convert to Judaism.

Russell's fourth novel, Dreamers of the Day (released in March 2008), revolves around the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, which laid the foundations for the modern Middle East.

Russell's most recent novel is a Western and murder mystery, entitled Doc. It is set in Dodge City in 1878, when the friendship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday began, four years before the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral.

Books

• The Sparrow (1996)
• Children of God (1998)
• A Thread of Grace (2005)
• Dreamers of the Day Random House, 2008. ISBN 1-4000-6471-6
• Doc, Random House, May 3, 2011.

Awards

• James Tiptree, Jr. Award
• British Science Fiction Association's Best Novel Award
• Arthur C. Clarke Award
• John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
• Cleveland Arts Council Prize for Literature
• American Library Association Readers Choice Award
• Gaylactic Spectrum Hall of Fame Award
• Kurd Lasswitz Preis (German Nebula)

Nominations

• Hugo Award
• Book of the Month Club Best First Fiction Prize

See also

• Giordano Bruno, the Italian philosopher for whom the interstellar ship in Children of God is named.

External links

• Mary Doria Russell's personal website
• Radio interview of Mary Doria Russell discussing Dreamers of the Day and more, with Richard Wolinsky on KPFA's Cover to Cover (April 10, 2008)
• Public radio interview of Mary Doria Russell and NPR book reviewer Alan Cheuse discussing historical fiction.
• WorldCat Identities Page
• Mary Doria Russell at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database