Isabel Fonseca was born in New York and educated at Columbia University and Oxford. She was an assistant editor at the Times Literary Supplement and has written for a wide range of publications, from the Wall Street Journal to Vogue. Her first book, Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey, was an international bestseller. She lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.

"Just thinking of this novel, I smile... so gratifyingly readable. When it comes to deciphering our new world and its emotional intricacies, Fonseca is spot-on" -- Fay Weldon "A searing tale of middle-aged anxiety, so accomplished and pertinent, witty and wise" Independent on Sunday "Fonseca possesses a wonderful eye and vocabulary for the observable world, a natural gift for portraiture and a nasty wit about characters we're not supposed to like... All is perfectly suited to her complex subject, one worth taking seriously: the difficulty of loving someone you already love, and its corollary, the stony impenetrability of others" -- Richard Ford "An impressive debut...it is insistent, weighty, carefully and densely composed...this is an adult book in all respects, reflecting, with an inquiring intelligence and emotional honesty" Time Out "She has an expressive turn of phrase and a gift for evoking a sense of place" Sunday Times