JoJo Winternitz and The Woman in White

 JoJo Winternitz and The Woman in White 

JoJo grew up in England and America. Her secondary schooling was at a girls’ boarding school situated in a drafty castle in the English countryside.  It was a disorientating experience but one that has proven to be fascinating fodder for her Young Adult Series, The Polly Watson Mysteries. 

The first in this YA series, The Woman in White, was published in November 2025. The story focuses on Polly, a young Australian girl who grew up in sunny, warm Sydney, but for the last two years she has been trapped in an isolated, cold and draughty boarding school in England that she hates. She’s lonely and has little in common with her stuck-up companions.

The Woman in White is set in 1983, and Polly is now entering her third year at Atherton Castle, and there is no such thing as the internet, mobile phones, or social media. Instead, Polly has to rely on her imagination, telling herself stories to get through miserable, lonely nights in the bleak castle. One winter’s night, as she’s lying awake, she hears piano music playing on the landing below her dormitory. She goes to investigate, but the piano player has vanished before she can get there. Polly is determined to find out who the mystery piano player is. Her investigations lead her to places and discoveries she could never have imagined, and in the process, she learns a great deal about herself and what happens when you dare to be brave and hold your head up.

JoJo has loved telling and writing stories since childhood and has published several short stories in adult fiction anthologies.  She now writes for children and young adults. Regardless of the genre, JoJo's work has a common thread at its core: the strength of the human spirit and the power of love to overcome adversity.