Philippa Gregory holds a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh for her research into eighteenth-century literature. She trained as a journalist and worked for the BBC, She lives with her family in West Sussex. Philippa Gregory is best known for her eighteenth-century novels, Wideacre, The Favoured Child and Meridon, which together make up the best selling saga of the Lacey family and are published by Penguin. Penguin also publish her novel Mrs Hartley and the Growth Centre. Her most recent novel is Fallen Skies. She has also written several children's books, Princess Florizella (Puffin 1989), Florizella and the Wolves and Florizella and the Giant.