Penelope Lively

Penelope Lively is a British literature and fiction books author born in Egypt. She is also the author of many award-winning novels and short stories for children and adults. She was twice shortlisted for Booker Prize According to Mark and The Road to Lichfield in 1984 and 1977, respectively.

The best place to start is the Fanny series, the earliest of Penelope Lively's multi-book series: it opens with Fanny's Sister (1976) and runs to 3 books across 1976–1980, ending with Fanny and the Battle of Potter's Piece (1980).

Penelope Lively has 70 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1970 and 2021. 4 of them belong to 2 named series — the largest being the Fanny series with 3 books — and 66 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Penelope Lively's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Fanny (1976–1980, 3 books) and Gillian Cross Collections (2009, 1 book).

This guide splits Penelope Lively's 70 books into 2 named series and 66 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Fanny (3 books, 1976–1980); Gillian Cross Collections (1 book, 2009).