Helen Fripp is fascinated by history and by women who have achieved greatness against all the odds. Her female characters rail against the social constraints of their day and the place and times are sumptuously and lyrically evoked. Most of all, it's the motivations, flaws, loves and everyday lives of her characters that Helen loves to create, against sweeping historical backdrops.

Helen lives in the Bath, England, but will find any excuse to take off and research a captivating location or person for her next story. She has worked in Paris and lived with her family in a fishing village in Southern France.