India Knight
| India Knight | |
|---|---|
| Born |
India Aertsens 14 December 1965 Brussels, Belgium |
| Occupation | Journalist, columnist, novelist |
| Nationality | British |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | |
|
timesonline | |
India Knight (born 14 December 1965) is a British journalist and author. She is known for her contribution to the British media, as well as her books: My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want Me?, The Shops, Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet and The Thrift Book (2008), all of which are published by Penguin books. Her novels have been translated into 28 languages.
Background
India Aertsens was born to Sabiha Rumani Malik (of a family related to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, one of the foremost leaders of the Indian independence movement and a renowned scholar, and poet). India’s mother was 17 years old at the time of her birth and married to Michel Aertsens, 20 years her senior. Aertsens was the son of First World War hero Gaston Aertsens and Marie-Louise Lacroix of the family of Belgian statesman Henri Jaspar. Soon after her birth India’s parents separated and India lived in Brussels with her mother who, whilst continuing her studies, worked as a translator to support her daughter and herself. In 1975 her father agreed to a divorce, and India’s mother married Andrew Knight, the editor of The Economist; at age 9 India moved to London to live with her mother and stepfather. Her mother and step-father were married for 17 years and had two daughters - Amaryllis and Afsaneh. They were divorced in 1991, and soon after, India's mother married a family friend, the architect Norman Foster; they remained married until 1995. In her semi-autobiographical novel Comfort and Joy, Knight writes about her family and her mother, and the additional weight she gained. India Knight began to use her stepfather's surname at the age of thirteen.[1]
Personal life
Knight lives in London with her three children. Her first marriage was to Jeremy Langmead, the former editor of Wallpaper* magazine and Esquire magazine. The couple had two sons and remain friendly. [2]
Her third child's father is author Andrew O'Hagan.[3] Nell, her youngest child and only daughter, born in 2004, has DiGeorge syndrome.[4] After writing an article in The Sunday Times about her daughter's special needs, Knight launched a blog about children with special needs "for parents in a similar position to keep in touch, compare notes and help each other".
In December 2015 she announced her forthcoming marriage in her Sunday Times column and other press reported her fiance as former MP Eric Joyce, her long-standing boyfriend.[5]
Political views
In August 2014, Knight was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[6]
Books
Fiction
- My Life on a Plate (2000)
- Don't You Want Me? (2002)
- Comfort and Joy (2010)
- Mutton (2012)
Non-fiction
- The Shops (2003)
- The Dirty Bits For Girls (editor, 2006)
- Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet (2007)
- Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet Cookbook (2008)
- The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less (2008)
Children's books
- The Baby (2007)
References
- ↑ Isn't She Talking Yet?.
- ↑ "Ripping up the Yule book: Jeremy Langmead's dysfunctional family festivities", London Evening Standard, 9 December 2011
- ↑ Lesley McDowell "India Knight on the pressures of parenting", The Herald, 14 November 2011
- ↑ It was bad news. Her tiny heart..., Telegraph, 5 December 2005
- ↑
- ↑ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics". theguardian.com. 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-08-26.