Scarlett Thomas

Scarlett Thomas (born 1972 in Hammersmith) is an English author. She has written nine novels, including The End of Mr. Y and PopCo, and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Kent. 2Biography She is the daughter of Francesca Ashurst, and attended a variety of schools, including a state junior school in Barking, and a boarding school for eighteen months. During her teenage years she was involved in demonstrations against the Poll Tax, nuclear weapons and the first Gulf War. She studied for her A levels at Chelmsford College and achieved a First in a degree in Cultural Studies at the University of East London from 1992-1995. Her first three novels feature Lily Pascale, an English literature lecturer who solves murder mysteries. Her next three novels - Bright Young Things (2001), Going Out (2002), and PopCo (2004) - took her away from genre fiction, and she used them to "explore what it means to be trapped in a culture where your identity is defined by pop culture." Her next novel, 2006's The End of Mr. Y brought her a new level of success, and was sold in 22 countries. She shares with Ariel, the protagonist in The End of M