Amanda Lees
Amanda was born in Hong Kong and survived both a convent boarding school and a Jesuit boys’ school before being summarily ejected from the latter. She is the author of the bestselling satirical novels SELLING OUT and SECRET ADMIRER (both published by Pan) which have both received critical acclaim and have been translated into several languages.
She gets her thirst for adventure from her parents who met in the jungle in Borneo where her mother had set up a hospital and her father, a former Gurkha officer and Oxford-educated linguist, was probably up to no good. Her parents decamped to Hong Kong where her father established a business importing his two great loves – champagne and whisky. Sadly, he died when Amanda was three before she could get to know him better although she’s pretty sure they would have shared the same sense of humour…
A brilliant fusion of fantasy and contemporary comedy that adults and children will both enjoy immenselyHer redoubtable Glaswegian-born mother ensured that Amanda not only travelled the world before she was ten but also passed on her great love of different people and cultures. Amanda speaks four languages and is currently learning Bulgarian as she now owns a tumbledown cottage near the Black Sea which she bought after flying out with the money strapped to her left leg (Bulgaria is still a cash economy!)
The first book in her major new teen trilogy, KUMARI, Goddess of Gotham, was published by Piccadilly Press in January 2008. It was written as a tribute to her mum, who died a couple of months before Amanda got the idea for a series which would reflect her own exotic childhood. The second, KUMARI, Goddess of Secrets, was published in May 2008 and the third, KUMARI, Goddess of Destiny, was published on 31 October 2008. All three books have received excellent reviews. Goddess of Gotham was longlisted for the 2008 Waterstone’s Children’s Book Award and is currently longlisted for the Doncaster Book Award. It was also Redhouse Book of the Month and all three titles were featured as Book of the Month for Lovereading4kids. Goddess of Gotham has been translated into Portuguese, Turkish and Malay and is currently being translated into German.
Amanda has a degree in drama and her first telly job was as a member of the Communist Resistance in ’ALLO ‘ALLO. This involved running around with a dachshund tucked under one arm and deploying her best cod French accent. It’s all been dramatically downhill since. A broadcaster as well as an actress and novelist, Amanda appears regularly on BBC radio and LBC and was a contracted writer to the hit series WEEKENDING on Radio 4. She also teaches media skills to authors and runs immensely popular workshops for children and adults. She has conducted a love coaching phone-in from the sofa of Richard & Judy and wooed the viewers on Channel 5 Live. She won an award at the Hungarian Film Festival for a short film she produced called PROs AND CONs and has a number of projects currently in development.
She has written for, or contributed to, The Evening Standard, The Times, New Woman, US Cosmopolitan, Bulgaria’s Vagabond and Company Magazine. She lives in London.
Her website is: www.amandalees.com
REVIEWS
KUMARI GODDESS OF GOTHAM
The first book in the Kumari trilogy – longlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize 2008 and the 2008 Doncaster Book Award
“A magnificent debut full of wit and humour…If you were to put a kingdom beyond the world, Manhattan, a goddess-in-training and a pet vulture you wouldn’t think there would be a story to be told. Well you’d be wrong. Amanda Lees has drawn these supposedly disparate elements together into something that really has more than a little something. It’s wild, it’s wacky, it’s frightening and full of adventure. It’s an unmissable treat and the first in the Kumari trilogy.” Lovereading4Kids
“The heroine of Amanda Lees’s unusual and colourful debut, Kumari, Goddess of Gotham, is, like all the best heroines, plunged into a situation of menace right from the very start of the book, and she spends the rest of the novel trying to fight her way out of it. Unlike the many other self-indulged New York teenagers who preen themselves as if they were goddesses, Kumari is the real thing – a goddess-in-training from a royal kingdom, where her mother has recently died and her only friend is a bedraggled baby vulture named Badmash. Kumari somehow finds herself in our world, the World Beyond, and is forced to adapt to strange buildings and odd people.
“Everyone should love this book… magical, different and has a baby vulture in it! What more could anyone require? I loved it!” Sue Chambers, Waterstone’s, HarrodsHer initiation into modern American life is portrayed in a way that is both touching and funny – her first encounter with a burger, for instance, leaves her reeling in horror at the bread-like disc, with “yellow ooze spilling from its centre” and a side order of “pale strips, with some red sticky sauce”.
Used to people in her palace wearing elegant saris and sandals, Kumari is placed in the hands of a motherly foster carer who resembles a “giant plum” with her hair a dazzling confection of twisted curls topped off with mauve tips.
To make the unusual heroine appeal to today’s children, Lees cleverly allows her to pick up some of her new language from The Simpsons – with comic results – and ensures that she falls in love with a boy and has her first kiss.
The contrast between Kumari’s world and our own provides the dramatic tension over the course of this powerful and touching novel about an outsider trying to fit in.” Vanessa Curtis, Glasgow Herald
“Everyone should love this book……magical, different and has a baby vulture in it! What more could anyone require? I loved it!” Sue Chambers, Waterstone’s, Harrods
“An original mix of fantasy and reality. Kumari is a sweet, unusual and trend-setting new character.” Chicklish
“Kumari is a great heroine – feisty and determined, but also sweet-natured and lovable and entertainingly fallible.” Write Away
KUMARI GODDESS OF SECRETS
The second book in the Kumari trilogy
“A fast-paced adventure of magic, mystery and enterprise…Kumari is a gutsy heroine riding an entertaining roller coaster of life.” Julia Eccleshare
“In this terrific blend of fantasy, drama, wit and adventure, Kumari the girl goddess, who we first met in the author’s striking debut KUMARI, GODDESS OF GOTHAM is once again forced to pit her wits against everyone in order to save her people against the enemy. With an original voice the author succeeds in engaging the reader, both through some page-turning suspense but also via a lightness of touch in the writing.” Lovereading
“We loved the first book in the Kumari series, written by super-talent Amanda Lees, and the second in this three-part series, really, really doesn’t disappoint.
Kumari, the girl goddess is back home after her year in New York, but everything has changed. It’s hard to fit back into her old life at the Palace after everything she’s learned in the World Beyond. More seriously, her father the King is very ill, and the future of the Hidden Kingdom is under threat. Kumari will need to marshall her goddess powers and use all her courage and ingenuity to find the secrets which will cure Papa and save the kingdom. And her quest to avenge her beloved Mamma seems destined to continue!” Lisa Clark
KUMARI GODDESS OF DESTINY
The third book in the Kumari trilogy
“Old enemies and new revelations make this a thrilling climax to the Kumari trilogy which began with Kumari: Goddess of Gotham and followed with Kumari: Goddess of Secrets. Kumari is a great heroine – feisty and determined but also sweet-natured and fun-loving. The author mixes both humour and pathos to great effect resulting in a brilliant fusion of fantasy and contemporary comedy that adults and children will both enjoy immensely.” Lovereading4kids
“This is the third and final book in the Kumari trilogy. After saving the Hidden Kingdom from disaster; goddess-in-training Kumari longs to go back and visit her friends in the World Beyond. But then a message form the gods send her on the most important mission of her life- to avenge her Mamma and save her from limbo. As she heads for New York, Kumari is faced with a problem that seems impossible. Becoming a full goddess means giving up her friends, her freedom and her happiness…
When I first starting reading this book, I wondered what it would be like (this is the first book I’m reading in the Kumari series). I thought it would be a fantasy with lot of things happening that we all know are impossible. But it’s nothing like that at all. Kumari is a normal girl (okay, so she is a goddess) but she has normal feelings. She goes through what every girl does – crushing, making hard decisions, balancing friends with family. Kumari also has to deal other things, like goddess training and, most importantly, avenging her Mamma.
I loved this book and the way Kumari is so wise at fourteen! Maybe, she does make some mistakes sometimes (don’t we all) but that’s what is so great about her. We can all learn a little something from Kumari. I like the relationship between her and Chico, and how strong their love seemed to me. Kumari is a smart, gutsy, heroine who fights for what she believes in. A thrilling, page-turner of a book! I recommend it anyone who loves a good read.” Chicklish (5 stars)
BOOKS FOR ADULTS
SELLING OUT
“A riotous, romantic comedy of errors and mistaken identity.” Marie Claire
“Amanda Lees swells the girl-about-town genre with Selling Out but this one is actually funny.” Harpers & Queen
“The description ‘romantic comedy’ applied to a novel can frequently make the heart sink, but Amanda Lees’s debut is a more than pleasant surprise: sparklingly funny and painfully sharp throughout…Using and subverting the clichés of the sex-and-shopping genre to great effect, Lees builds a series of hugely amusing set-pieces…A light but gratifying addition to this summer’s beach-bound reading list.” The Times
“Amanda Lees has a charming turn of phrase that gets you giggling out loud.” Best
“A fine, frothy debut that will not disappoint.” Books
SECRET ADMIRER
“Can Delilah emerge romantically intact? Well worth giving up a Saturday afternoon’s shopping to find out!” 19 Magazine Book of the Month
“It’s great fun and easy to read…with that ‘Oh God, this is my life’ factor.” B Magazine
AS AMANDA CRAVEN
SEX MAGIC
“It was an amazing experience – spending time together doing something that as new and different. It really worked. I want to do every spell in the book now!” Jonathan Snowden, Woman’s Own
“This book will leave the reader with a strong sense of self-worth in her abilities as a spell-weaver.” Women’s Health
“Good for those who want to find out what holistic techniques – from yummy recipes with aphrodisiac qualities (such a passion-packed pesto) to Ancient Egyptian love rituals – can do for your sex life” New Woman
“Designed to appeal to women of all ages, the book leaves the reader with a strong sense of self-worth” Weight Watchers
