About the Author

J. G. Harlond (Jane) grew up in the South West of England and studied in Britain and the USA, obtaining BA (Hons) in Cultural Studies and an MA in Social and Political Thought, she also has teaching qualifications and worked as an English teacher for many years in European international schools. Jane now lives in southern Spain, where she writes school text book material and historical fiction. Jane's fascination with historical fiction began while still at school, when she would read anything by Jean Plaidy instead of doing her homework. Her writing is also influenced by Dorothy Dunnett and Mary Wesley: two very different authors whose well-chosen prose wove intrigue and sharp descriptive detail into compelling stories. What still interests her about the genre, she says, is the way that - as with real history - it's the universal emotions and motivations of love, hate, greed, jealousy and desire that influence or determine both an individual's life-choices and international politics: in different epochs different social mores may prevail, but people are generally governed by self-interest. Jane's novels also examine aspects of genetic inheritance, how family character traits and physical appearance can follow through or skip and re-emerge in different generations.