Author

Dani Heywood-Lonsdale

Primary Agent

Olivia Maidment

+44 (0)20 7499 7550

International Rights

Valentina Paulmichl

+44 (0)20 7499 7550

Film & TV

Hannah Ladds

+44 (0)20 7499 7550

Information

Biography

Dani Heywood-Lonsdale is a British-American writer with family roots in Hawaii and the Philippines. She holds an EdD and has taught English Literature in London, Oxford and Florence over the past decade. She studied Creative Writing and English in Los Angeles and New York before enrolling in the Faber Academy in London.

Social Links

Books

Featured Book

One morning in 1890, a painting wrapped in brown paper appears on the steps of the National Gallery and causes a sensation. It’s clearly by Timothy Ponden-Hall, an artist whose paintings were celebrated and debated, not just for their beauty, but for the rumours behind them: his masterpieces were believed to immortalise the souls of their subjects.

But the shadowy explorer and artist has been thought dead for the last 50 years – so what does this new portrait mean? The gallery brings in renowned art historian Solomon Oak to investigate the painting as rumours swirl through the streets of London town.

In a bid to uncover the truth, Oak is assisted by an unlikely aid: his daughter Alice. A passionate but sheltered student, Alice has worldly desires which eclipse the life she’s expected to lead. Together they discover that exposing Ponden-Hall’s legacy will prove more controversial than they could ever have imagined for their family and Victorian society.

Set between London and Oxford, The Portrait Artist is a twisting historical debut exploring race, fame and long-kept secrets.

View book

Press and Reviews

“Dani Heywood-Lonsdale’s stunning debut reads like a classic. It’s impeccably researched, masterfully plotted, beautifully written with not a word out of place. Dani has pulled off…”

– Sunday Times Bestselling author Santa Montefiore

“A triumph…deliciously intriguing. The setting and characters were also imagined in spellbinding detail.”

– Harriet Constable, author of The Insrumentalist

“Imaginative. The streets, parlours and galleries of London and Oxford come alive in this twisting, Victorian-era drama. THE PORTRAIT ARTIST is an intriguing exploration of art,…”

– Charmain Wilkerson, bestselling author of Black Cake