Anita Brookner is an author, art historian, and lecturer who was born in London in 1928. She is best known for her novels, which often focus on the lives of single women. Her first novel, 'A Start in Life, ' was published in 1981 and won the Booker Prize. Her other works include 'Hotel du LAC, ' which won the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and 'Look at Me, ' which was shortlisted for the 2001 Orange Prize for Fiction. Brookner has also written several non-fiction books about art and culture.