The Love Bean - Softcover

Having grown up in Galway and Donegal, Siobhan Parkinson has lived most of her adult life in her native Dublin. She studied English literature and German at Trinity, and went on to take her doctorate in English literature. She has worked for many years as an editor, a profession that very closely resembles that of writing. She concentrates more on her writing these days, but is also a very active member of the writers-in-schools scheme, and she gives workshops in creative writing and talks on her work in all sorts of situations. She has held various writing residencies and she is currently co-editor of Inis -- The Children's Books Ireland Magazine. Her books have won numerous awards and been translated into lots of languages, her favourites being Latvian, because it is so different, and Japanese, because it is back to front. Apart from reading and writing, she is very fond of eating and sleeping. Her favourite place is bed. Obviously, she is not a cross-channel swimmer. She is a big fan of the Great Indoors, including crackling fires, warm rugs and lots of candles. Her ambition is to be old, so that she can sit in a chair all day and eat chocolate and nobody can expect her to go out to work. Her husband, Roger Bennett, is a woodturner and teacher, and her son Matthew is almost grown up. Being her son didn't do him too much harm, he claims, but time will tell. Her first two books, The Dublin Adventure and The Country Adventure, were aimed at the 6-9 age group and were very well received. Her third book for the same age group was has been described as 'a great comedy romance' and tells the story of two parallel love triangles between twin sisters and a foreigner, set thousands of years apart.

'Her dialogue is realistic, her writing fluid, her characters credible and multi-dimensional' -- The Sunday Business Post * Sunday Business Post * 'Definitely one of Ms. Parkinson's finest ... The characters ... are convincingly portrayed in this wonderfully warm book.' -- Books Ireland * Books Ireland * 'This is a stylish, witty and accomplished novel, one which more than fulfils the promise of Lady Capulet's "golden story"' -- Robert Dunbar - The Irish Times * The Irish Times * 'You're getting two stories here merging into one for tens and upwards - and from Parkinson you know it will take you up and carry you along.' -- Books Ireland * Books Ireland * 'A great comedy romance' -- Pat Boran - The Pat Kenny Show