Emma was born in London, and grew up partly in Manhattan and Brussels. After studying Drama at university she had various jobs, including driving a sandwich van and selling musical instruments, before her first novel The Mathematics of Love (Headline Review/William Morrow) was published. It is possibly the only novel ever nominated for both the Commonwealth Writers Best First Book and the RNA Novel of the Year, and it was followed by her Sunday Times bestselling second novel, A Secret Alchemy. Her long-established blog This Itch of Writing gave rise to Get Started in Writing Historical Fiction, (John Murray Learning) and she also teaches and mentors writers. She is the great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma Wedgwood, and she lives in London.

'A masterclass in how writers have to learn to fail and fail again before they have a hope of producing something like this book' Kathryn Hughes, The Mail on Sunday; 'Wise, witty, and informative' The Literary Review; 'Charming' The Spectator; 'Refreshingly frank, witty, eloquent memoir-cum-biography-cum-rumination.' Saga Magazine; `Here is the humility, naked courage and fiercely intelligent understanding of what writing a novel takes, and costs, no matter what happens to the finished product. The prize is the dangerous, painful, unwanted knowledge that Emma won at the end of the journey.' Jenn Ashworth, author of The Friday Gospels, Fell, etc, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster.

Emma was born in London, and grew up partly in Manhattan and Brussels. After studying Drama at university she had various jobs, including driving a sandwich van and selling musical instruments, before her first novel The Mathematics of Love (Headline Review/William Morrow) was published. It is possibly the only novel ever nominated for both the Commonwealth Writers Best First Book and the RNA Novel of the Year, and it was followed by her Sunday Times bestselling second novel, A Secret Alchemy. Her long-established blog This Itch of Writing gave rise to Get Started in Writing Historical Fiction, (John Murray Learning) and she also teaches and mentors writers. She is the great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma Wedgwood, and she lives in London.

'A masterclass in how writers have to learn to fail and fail again before they have a hope of producing something like this book' Kathryn Hughes, The Mail on Sunday; 'Wise, witty, and informative' The Literary Review; 'Charming' The Spectator; 'Refreshingly frank, witty, eloquent memoir-cum-biography-cum-rumination.' Saga Magazine; `Here is the humility, naked courage and fiercely intelligent understanding of what writing a novel takes, and costs, no matter what happens to the finished product. The prize is the dangerous, painful, unwanted knowledge that Emma won at the end of the journey.' Jenn Ashworth, author of The Friday Gospels, Fell, etc, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster.