Books by Vivienne Kearns

Vivienne Kearns grew up in Dublin as one of five children; living first in the city centre, before moving out to the newer suburbs in Tallaght which were built in the 70's. As a teenager she became interested in fashion and started designing and making her own clothes. Dressmaking has always been in her family - her aunt Kathleen was a tailor and her grandmother made her daughters' wedding gowns. At secondary school Vivienne decided she wanted to be a fashion designer, and one of her designs was chosen, along with NCAD graduate designs, for the 'Youngline' show on RTE in the early 1980s - she even got to go on the show to model her own dress. However, her love of literature would intervene and after reading Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre she knew she wanted to study English, which she did at University College Dublin. After college, she went onto train and qualify as an English teacher, but she was successful in the Donnelly visa and moved to Los Angeles for a year. When she returned from LA, she worked in Hodges Figgis bookshop in Dublin, which she still recalls as one of her best jobs ever. Vivienne went on to work as a technical writer and project manager in the e-learning industry for 20 years and now works in University College Dublin in an administrative role. She has travelled the world for work, mostly to the US and Cape Town, South Africa, and has also visited India, and China including the city of Xi'an, which is the terminus city of the Silk Road. It was after reading Tracy Chevalier's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' that Vivienne knew she wanted to write - and she would ultimately attend a historical writing course facilitated by Tracy Chevalier and Louise Doughty, which helped culminate in the publication of The Emerald Dress.