Jane Shaw, born Jean Bell Shaw Patrick, was a Scottish author of books and short stories for children and young adults. From 1939 to 1969, she published over forty books and numerous short stories. She is best remembered as the author of the "Susan" series.
Early life
Jean Bell Shaw Patrick was born in Glasgow on 3 December 1910, the daughter of John Patrick and Margaret Shaw Patrick. Her father was a medical doctor. She was tutored at home by a governess until, at the age of eight, she began attending Park School on nearby Lynedoch Street. In her last two years at the school, she was editor of the Park Chronicle, the school magazine. She studied at the University of Glasgow, graduating with a Second Class Honours Degree in English Literature and Language in 1932. She then spent a year in London at the Maria Grey Training College, studying to be a teacher.
Career
Instead of teaching, Shaw's first job was at the Times Book Club in London. She was then offered a job with William Collins, Sons. The editor of children's books at Collins, Jocelyn Oliver, recognized her talent and encouraged her to write a story. The result was her first book, Breton Holiday, which was published in 1939. Her house in Dulwich was bombed in World War II, and she moved in with friends in Bath and Kent. She continued to write through wartime disruption and the births of her two children, with a further three books published during the war. After the war, she saw several of her short stories adapted for broadcast on BBC's Children's Hour. Her family's move to Johannesburg in 1952 was the inspiration behind her book Venture to South Africa, which chronicles the upheaval faced by a British family moving overseas. In Johannesburg, she worked at the Children's Book Shop and continued writing her books and short stories. In her popular "Susan" series of books, the title character Susan Lyle stays in London and has adventures with her cousins, while her parents are living in Africa. Shaw's books became collectibles after she stopped writing in 1970; some have been re-issued after her death.
Personal life
In 1938, Jean Shaw married Robert Evans, an accountant, whom she had known since childhood. They set up home in Dulwich Village, London. The Evans had two children: Margaret Jane, born 1942, and Ian, born 1944. In 1952 her husband was offered an accountancy position in Johannesburg, and the whole family moved there. In 1978, following Robert Evans's retirement, the family returned to Scotland, setting up home on the isle of Arran, which had been a favourite holiday destination in her childhood. Her husband died 1987. Following a short illness, Jean Evans died in 2000, just two weeks before her ninetieth birthday. She was buried beside her husband, at the Shiskine cemetery on Arran. Her literary and business papers, including manuscripts of unpublished works, are archived in the National Library of Scotland.
Selected publications
The Holiday series:
Breton Holiday reissued in 1953 as Breton Adventure
Bernese Holiday reissued in 1953 as Bernese Adventure
