Carolyn O’Brien is an historical fiction writer from Manchester. Her writing has a strong sense of the north-west of England and its radical past, as illustrated in her first novel The Song of Peterloo and the upcoming Rose & Renzo.

The Song of Peterloo was published in 2019 to coincide with the Peterloo Massacre bicentenary commemorations. It was well reviewed and continues to be used as a teaching resource in schools and adult learning programmes.

Carolyn loved writing from an early age and read English at Cambridge University before qualifying as a solicitor. Prior to publication of her first novel, Carolyn enjoyed several successes with short stories including the Rome Short Story competition which she won and a shortlisting for the Bridport Prize, as well as publication on-line and in numerous
anthologies and magazines.

She continues to live near Manchester with her family.

Carolyn can be found on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads as @carolynmanc

Carolyn is represented at Jenny Brown Associates by Lisa Highton.

​

Rose & Renzo is coming May 2026.