Alice McVeigh

Alice McVeigh has been published in contemporary fiction by Orion/Hachette, in speculative fiction by UK's Unbound, and in historical fiction by Warleigh Hall Press. Her novels have won first prizes/Gold in the PenCraft, Global, eLit, Incipere, and Historical Fiction Company Book Awards, been quarterfinalists for the BookLife Prize, honourably mentioned for the Foreword Indies’ “Book of the Year” and Writer’s Digest annual ebook awards, among others.

Alice spent her childhood in Southeast Asia, her teenage years in McLean VA, and her adulthood in London. She first came to London to study cello with Jacqueline du Pre, and spent fifteen years travelling the world with London orchestras, including the BBC Symphony and the Royal Philharmonic before taking fiction seriously.

Alice has long been married to Simon McVeigh, professor of music at the University of London. They share a daughter, Rachel – working for her Ph.D in Chinese Literature at Harvard - two long-haired dachshunds, a second home in Crete and an untreatable addiction to tennis.

Last Star Standing

Science Fiction, Action Adventure, Speculative, Dystopian

Earth, 2094 – and the ambitious, volatile Aiden is part of the underground resistance against the alien Xirfell's takeover. His ambition riles the rebel leadership, and he triumphs in freeing ‘the Creature’, only to be confronted by betrayal after betrayal, some going back years.

Gifted with a crucial mission, he and his two friends are targeted by a turncoat, boarded mid-space, neurologically attacked, confronted with treason – only to be disbelieved. There’s a crisis of identity, an uprising and two plot twists, but by the end of the book Aiden has become the leader he always longed to be.

Susan: a Jane Austen Prequel

Historical Fiction, Book Club Fiction, Historical Romance

Sixteen-year-old Susan Smithson – clever but capricious – has just been expelled from her London school. Her guardian sends her into the country for "safety". However, after two proposals, a death, an unexpected bequest and a still more unexpected elopement, Susan finds herself in more trouble than ever...

Sample PDF

Harriet: A Jane Austen Variation

Historical Fiction

*starred Editor's Pick on Publishers Weekly
*honorable mention/ finalist for Foreword Indies' Book of the Year
*finalist for Chanticleer's Chatelaine Award
*gold medallist, Global Book Awards
*selected as one of the top 100 books of 2022, Shelf Unbound magazine

Emma, a privileged young heiress, decides to mentor Harriet Smith, a pretty boarding-school pupil, and to matchmake her as eligibly as she can… But how is she to guess that Harriet has a secret?

Meanwhile, the brilliant, penniless Jane Fairfax consents to a clandestine engagement with Frank Churchill – though not daring to confess, even to him, that she is being relentlessly pursued by her best friend’s husband.

Harriet sidelines Emma herself in favour of the ingenious Harriet and the fascinating Jane Fairfax. It is Emma – but an Emma with a surprisingly believable twist in its tail.

“McVeigh draws inspiration from her love of Jane Fairfax, and she certainly paints a fuller, more complete picture that gives welcome complexity to the musically talented and fragile young woman with an uncertain future. Harriet, though, is the character who shines brightest in this reimagining. In Austen's original, Harriet is willing to do anything to please Emma, but here she is a character of great depth, hiding facets of her personality and skills, often catching what those around her miss, and ultimately facing a compelling romantic decision. McVeigh again is on point with both the writing style, language, and consistency in Austen's characters, making this a treat for anyone who loves the originals.” - Publishers Weekly, starred review