Alice May Oseman (born 16 October 1994)[1] is an English author and illustrator of young adult fiction. She[a] secured her first publishing deal at 17 and published her first novel Solitaire in 2014.[2]
Her novels include Radio Silence, I Was Born for This, and Loveless. All stand-alone novels in the same extended universe, they focus on contemporary teenage life in the UK and have received praise for their realism, LGBT inclusion, and portrayal of mental health struggles.[3] She has received several awards for her works including silver Inky Award, a British Book Award, and two Goodreads Choice Awards.
Oseman wrote her debut novel Solitaire when she was just 17 and secured a publishing deal for it by the time she was 19. It was published by HarperCollins in 2014 after a bidding war.[2] The book follows the story of Tori Spring, a pessimistic teenager, as she meets Michael Holden, her polar opposite and an unbelievable optimist. They attempt to discover the truth behind the anonymous group 'Solitaire' who commit a series of pranks at their school.[8] Other characters include Tori's brother Charlie, who has a severe eating disorder, and his boyfriend Nick. The novel explores themes such as friendship, depression, eating disorders, and LGBT+ relationships.
Solitaire was praised for its compelling characters and Oseman's young age at the time of publishing, landing her a BBC Breakfast interview on 22 July 2014.[8] Oseman later published two ebook novellas based on characters from Solitaire - a sequel titled Nick and Charlie (July 2015) and a prequel titled This Winter (November 2015).
Upon "falling in love" with the characters of Nick and Charlie, Osman decided their story needed further exploration and began the Heartstopperonline webcomic series.[9] The episodic comic first appeared online on Tumblr and Tapas in September 2016 and follows Tori's younger brother Charlie through high school as he meets and then begins dating Nick Nelson.[10]
While the comic features some of the same characters and takes place in the same universe and timeline as Solitaire, its tone is notably different. Where Solitaire is a grimly realistic depiction of mental illness and struggle, Heartstopper provides a more uplifting view of the world and focuses much more on romance.[11]
Coming-of-age novels and critical success
In 2016, Oseman published her second novel, Radio Silence.[12] The novel follows Frances Janvier, a high-achiever whose life revolves around her admission to the University of Cambridge, who meets the shy creator behind her favourite podcast, Aled Last. Themes such as academic pressures and LGBT+ relationships and identities are central to the novel. Oseman noted that Frances' experience in Radio Silence was similar to her own school pressure and later disillusionment with academia following her education at Durham University.[13]
The novel was praised for its compelling central character and realistic writing style and relatability,[14][15] as well as for representing characters of various ethnicities, genders, and sexualities.[16] Oseman has frequently commented about the importance of writing diversely and expressed regret over the lack of diversity in Solitaire.[17][18][19]Radio Silence was named one of the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year in 2017 and[20] won the 2017 Silver Inky Award for young adult literature.[21]
Oseman's third book, I Was Born for This, was published in May 2018.[22] It follows the story of Angel Rahimi and Jimmy Kaga-Ricci who are, respectively, a massive fan and the lead singer of boy band The Ark. The book explores Fandom culture, obsession, and identity alongside Oseman's trademark depictions of teenage friendship, sexuality and gender, and mental illness.[23] It was nominated for Best Young Adult Fiction Book in both the Goodreads Choice Awards and The Bookseller Awards.[24][25]
To celebrate the release of her third novel, Oseman's previous two novels and her two novellas all received new, matching covers, designed by Oseman.[26]
In July 2020, Oseman published her fourth young adult novel Loveless.[27]Loveless tells the story of 18-year-old Georgia Warr as she begins her first year as a student at Durham University and who, despite being an avid fan fiction writer and lover of romance movies, has never kissed anyone or had a crush before.[28] In addition to Georgia's personal journey of self-discovery as she realises she is aromantic and asexual, the book also discusses sexuality, identity, and discrimination within the LGBT community, as well as the effect of abusive relationships.[29]
While not an autobiographical book, Oseman has said that Loveless draws a lot from her own experiences growing up and discovering asexuality.[30] She also emphasised the importance of writing a book centered around platonic love, stating that she "wanted to craft a story that had the structure of a romance but was about a friendship."[31]
Loveless received positive critical reception from literary reviewers and media outlets, with many praising the novel's treatment of asexuality and its intersectional and diverse depiction of sexuality.[32] Jonny Yates of PinkNews wrote that the novel is "perhaps one of the most notable and popular books with aromantic characters"[33] and Ani Bundel of Paste expressed how asexuality in novels is "a rare thing still, and the burgeoning world of LGBTQ+ love stories needs more of them."[34] The novel received the YA Book Prize in 2021,[31] and was nominated for Best Young Adult Fiction Book in the Goodreads Choice Awards.[35]
Osemanverse timeline
All of Oseman's novels take place in the same universe and many of the same characters re-appear in later works. Solitaire focuses mainly on Tori Spring, but her younger brother Charlie and his boyfriend Nick Nelson both feature heavily. They are then the main focus of Nick and Charlie as well as Heartstopper while This Winter features all three. Similarly, Aled Last first appears as a supporting character in Heartstopper as one of Charlie's close friends before becoming one of the two main protagonists of Radio Silence.[36]
While the official timeline is ambiguous, Radio Silence is set roughly two years after the events of Solitaire, I Was Born for This takes places around four years after that, and the events of Loveless occur around a year further on from that. The Heartstopper comics begin about a year prior to Solitaire but eventually catch up to and continue past it. The Nick and Charlie novella is the last chronologically in terms of Charlie and Tori's story, taking place about a year before Radio Silence begins.[11]
Oseman is also the author and illustrator of the webcomic Heartstopper,[37][38] which follows the romantic relationship between Charlie Spring (brother of Tori Spring) and Nick Nelson, both of whom are characters featured in Solitaire as well as its spin-off novellas Nick and Charlie and This Winter (both published by HarperCollins Children's Books in 2020).[39]
Published online since 2016, the comics have been hosted via Webtoon since August 2019.[40] There are currently 7 chapters available in full online, with the eighth, and final, chapter currently being released. In October 2018, Hachette Children's Group acquired the rights to physical publishing of the first two volumes of Heartstopper,[41] and by January 2019, the third and fourth volumes.[42] Volume one (including Chapters 1 and 2) was published in October 2018, volume two (Chapter 3) in July 2019, volume three (Chapter 4) in February 2020, volume four (Chapters 5 and 6) in May 2021, and volume five (Chapter 7) in December 2023.[43] A sixth and final volume including chapter 8 and an epilogue has been announced and is expected to be published in late 2025.[44]
See-Saw Films optioned the television rights to Heartstopper in 2019. On 20 January 2021, it was revealed that a live-action television adaptation of Heartstopper was ordered to series by Netflix, with Oseman writing the script and Euros Lyn directing. Patrick Walters of See-Saw Films serves as executive producer.[45]Kit Connor and Joe Locke star as Nick and Charlie respectively.[46] It premiered on 22 April 2022, to critical acclaim with the first season receiving nine nominations and five wins, including Outstanding Young Teen Series, at the inaugural ceremony of the Children's and Family Emmy Awards.[47] Oseman appears in a brief cameo in episode eight of season one.[48]
On 20 May 2022, Netflix announced that the series was being recommissioned for a second and third season.[49] Following the release of the series, the first volume of the Heartstopper graphic novel became the top-selling children's bestseller in the UK.[50]
The show's second season was released on 3 August 2023 and received high praise for tackling more serious issues while maintaining the optimistic feel of the first season.[51] Season 3 was released on 3 October 2024 and was similarly praised for further developing the show's themes and for its nuanced and respectful discussion of mental health and relationship struggles.[52]
Personal life
While promoting Loveless, Oseman opened up about being aromantic and asexual.[53] Oseman uses she/her and they/them pronouns.[54] Oseman announced that she was going on hiatus from Heartstopper in 2022 due to stress and mental health issues.[55] The series returned in April 2023.[56]
Oseman's body of work is set within a cohesive fictional universe. For instance, the characters Nick and Charlie initially debut in Oseman's novel, Solitaire, and reappear in various works, most prominently in the Nick and Charlie novella and the Heartstopper graphic novels. This shared narrative universe has been informally termed the "Osemanverse" by some fans[58] and even adopted by certain retailers.[59]
