Alexandra Lapierre

Alexandra Lapierre was born in Paris, France, the daughter of writer Dominique Lapierre and his first wife, Aliette Spitzer. After studying literature at the Sorbonne, she went on a scholarship to study at the American Film Institute and the University of Southern California. She wrote screenplays, won several prizes at short film festivals, and received a second scholarship from the American Association of University Women, which enabled her to complete her master of fine arts degree at USC in 1981. She returned to live in Paris and published her first novel, La Lionne du boulevard (1984), which won the Prix du Premier Roman of the Fondation Paribas. Her subsequent works include more novels, as well as biographies, including those of Fanny Stevenson, wife of Robert Louis Stevenson (1993); painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1998); Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston (L'Excessive, 2010); and Maud and Nancy Cunard (Avec toute ma colère, 2018). Lapierre has won many additional literary awards and was appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2005.