Jody Cooksley is a writer, originally from Norwich and based in Surrey. A trained journalist, Jody’s career has spanned writing in all its forms – media, publishing, PR and communications.

Jody studied literature at Oxford Brookes University, and has a Masters in Victorian Poetry. Her debut novel, The Glass House, is a fictional account of the life of pioneer nineteenth-century photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron, praised as a ‘riveting account’ by poet James Harpur. Her second novel, How to Keep Well in Wartime, was hailed as ‘a powerful and finely crafted novel, exploring how we deal with grief, relationships and mental health,’ by author Tracey Iceton. Both are published by Cinnamon Press and have been shortlisted for various literary awards.

Jody’s Victorian gothic novel, The Small Museum (2024), was the winner of the Caledonia Novel Award 2023, followed in 2025 by The Surgeon’s House.

Website: jrcbooks.co.uk

Instagram: @jodycooksleyauthor

Photo credit: Lillian Spibey

‘I was blown away by The Small Museum. There’s such a delicious sense of unease running through the narrative […] The truth was more shocking than I could imagine, and Cooksley skilfully teases out these revelations in this beautifully written gothic mystery.’ – Stacey Thomas

‘The Small Museum is a masterful tale of dashed hope, treachery, and loss. […] A startling, bewitching Gothic that kept me up reading into the wee hours.’ – Tonya Mitchell

'Deliciously dark. Perfect for a winter's night’ – Barbara Havelocke

'The Surgeon’s House gripped me from the first page' – Jodie Matthews

'For fans of Daphne du Maurier and Laura Purcell, Cooksley delivers a gripping, intelligent gothic novel that lingers well beyond its final page.' – Historical Novels Review