Jennifer Vanderbes

Early life

Jennifer Vanderbes was born in New York City. She graduated from Yale University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Career

She was a creative writing fellow of English at Colgate University.

In 2003, she published her debut novel Easter Island. It was named one of the best books of 2003 by The Christian Science Monitor and The Washington Post Book World, and was translated into sixteen languages. The novel mixes together adventure, mystery, and romance in several plotlines linked to Easter Island, the remote South Pacific island famed for its immense Moai (statues).

In 2007, she published another novel entitled Strangers at the Feast. Set on Thanksgiving Day 2007, it depicts two families, one white and one black, connected by a horrific crime. Oprah Magazine called it "a thriller that also raises large and haunting questions about the meaning of guilt, innocence, and justice."

Her third book, The Secret of Raven Point (2014), is a World War II novel set in Italy. It follows young Juliet Dufresne, newly enlisted army nurse (she lied about her age) determined to find her older brother who’s gone missing in action in Italy. The New York Times celebrated the "two separate mysteries [that] create and maintain suspense throughout this gripping World War II coming-of-age novel." The Washington Post called it “fresh, compelling… War gives men and women a chance to become monsters or heroes, and Vanderbes finds her footing exploring these two extremes…[ Juliet] is a companionable protagonist... she emerges from the experience as someone altered yet not conquered by war….Vanderbes performs admirably.” And in a starred review, Library Journal said about it, "a touching tale of a sister’s love for her brother, but the underlying themes are much deeper. Readers will fall in love with the delightful Juliet, who is a smart and courageous heroine....the only disappointing thing about this book is that it has to end."

Her first play, Primating, about primatologists on a chimp reserve in Africa, was optioned in January 2014 by Tony-award winning producers Jeffrey Richards Associates, who also produced August: Osage County and All The Way. In the depths of Africa, two of the world’s leading primatologists meet twenty-five years after a dashed love affair. Old wounds are opened as the two headstrong, brainy ex-lovers try to use what they know about primate behavior to justify their own questionable decisions years earlier. When a secretive journalist and an enigmatic young research assistant join in on the fight, it quickly becomes a full-blown battle of the sexes - and wits - as the foursome pit man against woman and ape against man.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a New York Public Library Cullman Fellowship. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Best New American Voices 2000. She lives in New York City.