Margaret Owen author page

Margaret Owen biography

Margaret Owen is an American young adult fantasy author and illustrator. She grew up in Oregon, studied Japanese at university and worked in several fields, including retail and political campaigns, before becoming a published novelist. Her illustrations have also been used to raise funds for nonprofit organisations.

Her debut novel, The Merciful Crow, was published by Henry Holt and Company in 2019. The fantasy follows Fie, a young woman belonging to a persecuted caste responsible for dealing with victims of a deadly plague, who becomes entangled in a royal conspiracy. The novel was selected for the American Library Association’s 2020 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults list. Its sequel, The Faithless Hawk, followed in 2020 and was named an NPR Best Book of 2020.

Owen’s second fantasy series began with Little Thieves (2021), published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton. Inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Goose Girl, the novel tells the story from the perspective of Vanja Schmidt, a servant who steals a princess’s identity and becomes a jewel thief. Owen provided illustrations for the book, which received five starred reviews from American review publications and was selected for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list.

The series continued with Painted Devils (2023) and concluded with Holy Terrors (2025). Both books develop Vanja’s adventures involving gods, curses, deception and her relationship with investigator Emeric Conrad. Owen also contributed to the young adult fantasy anthology The Grimoire of Grave Fates (2023).

Her subsequent novel, Rootbound: A Tangled Novel, was published by Disney’s publishing division on 28 July 2026. Based on characters from Disney’s animated film Tangled, it follows Rapunzel and Eugene as they travel to the isolated kingdom of Astera and encounter political intrigue and magical secrets.