Anatole France

The son of a Parisian bookseller, Anatole France (1844–1924) became one of the most successful novelists and most famous men of letters of his time, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921.

Ford Madox Ford

Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939) is remembered as one of the most eminent figures in early twentieth-century English literature. He is best known for his novel The Good Soldier and for founding the journals the English Review and the Transatlantic Review, which under his editorship published the work of many of the greatest writers of the era.

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) is most famous for his groundbreaking collection of verse The Flowers of Evil, but his essays, translations and prose poems have been equally influential.

Fitz-James O’Brien

Born in Ireland, Fitz-James O’Brien (1828–62) was an American writer of poems and short stories who is considered by some as a pioneer in the science-fiction genre.

Nora Anne Brown

Nora Brown was born in Scotland and moved to London at the age of seventeen to study composing at the Royal Academy of Music. After graduating she worked for five years as an assistant for various high-profile individuals in the music industry, before moving to Durham to become a doctor. It was at medical school that she realized her dream of becoming a writer, and she returned to Scotland to pursue her writing career. The Flower Plantation is Nora’s first novel.

Prosper Mérimée

Well-versed in European languages and an archaeologist by profession, Prosper Mérimée (1803–70) wrote stories and novellas which displayed his concern for historical accuracy and his fascination for foreign places.

Miriam Halahmy

Miriam Halahmy is an author and a poet. She has published four novels and three collections of poetry, as well as short stories and education resources. Her YA novel, Hidden, was a Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week and nominated for the Carnegie Medal. It has recently been staged in a small Paris theatre.

Anthony McCarten

Anthony McCarten’s debut novel, Spinners, won international acclaim, and was followed by The English Harem and the award winning Death of a Superhero, all three books being translated into many languages. McCarten has also written twelve stage plays, including the worldwide success Ladies’ Night, which won France’s Molière Prize, the Meilleure Pièce Comique, in 2001. Also a film-maker, he has thrice adapted his own plays or novels into feature films which he directed himself.

Read an interview with Anthony McCarten here

Sofia Tolstoy

Sofia Tolstoy was the wife of Leo Tolstoy for nearly fifty years. She gave birth to his thirteen children and raised his numerous grandchildren, keeping a detailed diary of her entire married life.

J.M. Barrie

J.M. Barrie (1860–1937) was a prolific Scottish playwright and novelist who is now best remembered for his play Peter Pan and its spin-off novel Peter and Wendy.