Gerda Charles was the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 of Edna Lipson (14 August 1914 - 4 November 1996), an award-winning Anglo-Jewish novelist and author. She was born in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and spent her early years there. Her father died when Edna was a year old, throwing the family into poverty. At the age of 15, Edna moved to London with her mother. Together, they ran a boarding house

Boarding house

A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...

 while she continued her education through evening class

Evening Class

Evening Class is a novel by Maeve Binchy. It was adapted as the award-winning film Italian for Beginners by writer-director Lone Scherfig, who failed to formally acknowledge the source, although at the very end of the closing credits is the line 'with thanks to Maeve Binchy'.-Plot introduction:A...

es.

Lipson published her first novel The True Voice in 1959. A Slanting Light, her third novel, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize

James Tait Black Memorial Prize

Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...

 in 1963. She met further success with the publication of The Destiny Waltz which won the inaugural Whitbread Novel of the Year award in 1971

1971 Whitbread Awards

-References:*...

. Lipson worked as a journalist and reviewer for various newspapers such as the New Statesman

New Statesman

New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....

, Daily Telegraph, New York Times and Jewish Chronicle. She also edited an anthology of modern Jewish short stories.

Edna Lipson never married and lived with her mother until the latter's death in 1981. Much of their lives were spent in loneliness and economic hardship. Lipson died on 4 November 1996.

She is regarded as one of the chroniclers of the Anglo-Jewish experience, alongside writers such as Emmanuel Litvinoff, Bernice Rubens

Bernice Rubens

Bernice Rubens was a Booker Prize-winning Welsh novelist.-Background:She was of Russian Jewish descent and born in Cardiff, Wales where she attended Cardiff High School. She came from a very musical family, both her brothers becoming well-known classical musicians. She was married to Rudi...

, Bernard Kops

Bernard Kops

Bernard Kops is a British Dramatist, poet and novelist, born in the East End of London in 1926.His first play, The Hamlet of Stepney Green, was produced at the Oxford Playhouse in 1957...

 and Arnold Wesker

Arnold Wesker

Sir Arnold Wesker is a prolific British dramatist known for his contributions to kitchen sink drama. He is the author of 42 plays, 4 volumes of short stories, 2 volumes of essays, a book on journalism, a children's book, extensive journalism, poetry and other assorted writings...

. Her posthumous papers reside in a collection at the University of Reading

University of Reading

The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...

 library. The collection consists of miscellaneous literary papers, with periodicals, press cuttings and personal correspondence. Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...

 also inaugurated an award called the Gerda Charles Award.

Works

• The True Voice (1959)
• The Crossing Point (1961)
• A Slanting Light (1963)
• A Logical Girl (1966)
• The Destiny Waltz (1971)

Anthologies edited

• Modern Jewish Stories (1963)
• Great Short Stories of the World (1976)

Awards

• James Tait Black Memorial Prize
  James Tait Black Memorial Prize
  Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
  
   (1963) - A Slanting Light
• Whitbread Prize, Best Novel
  1971 Whitbread Awards
  -References:*...
  
  (1971) - The Destiny Waltz