Sally Watson

Watson died on March 11, 2022 in her hometown of Santa Rosa, California, at the age of 98.

Linnet was a Junior Literary Guild selection in 1971.

Magic at Wychwood was recommended by Library Journal in 1970.

The Mukhtar's Children was named as a Horn Book Magazine Fanfare Best Book of the Year in 1968 [1].

Witch of the Glens was on the Horn Book Magazine honor list in 1963.

To Build a Land won the Woodward Annual Award in 1959.

Watson was born in Seattle, Washington and attended Reed College. She began writing fiction in 1953; while doing so she worked for Great Books and co-wrote the audio-visual reading course, Listen and Learn with Phonics. In 1964 she moved to England, where she lived for 24 years, writing meticulously researched juvenile historical fiction featuring feisty and adventurous heroines, such as Jade, published by Henry Holt and Company. Her other activities included Scottish highland dance, teaching Judo, in which she earned a black belt, and Mensa International. The publishing climate for juvenile fiction eventually changed, and by the mid-1970s her books had gone out of print.

Sally Watson (January 28, 1924 – March 11, 2022) was an American author best known for her English Family Tree series, which encompasses generations of a family with roots in England and Scotland, and branches that stretch to early America. Other books are set in such places as Ancient Egypt and early modern Israel, and she also wrote two memoirs.

The historical novels Sally Watson has laid in Great Britain and America are separate and complete, yet are united by a family tree. They romp across four centuries, from 1582 London to 1892 Northern California. No one gets a starring role twice, but main characters sometimes reappear in another book in a relatively minor role as grandparent, sibling, cousin, lover or even a wayward eyebrow. The predominant family trait seems to be producing and marrying strong-willed women. Though the protagonists range in age from eleven to adult, and some are specifically juvenile and others definitely adult, the characterization, vocabulary, and plotting are appropriate to all ages from—say—eleven up.