Lucinda Riley was born in 1965 in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four. Her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and continue to strike an emotional chord with all cultures around the world. The Seven Sisters series specifically has become a global phenomenon, creating its own genre, and there are plans to create a seven-season TV series.

Her books have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Italian Bancarella prize, The Lovely Books award in Germany, and the Romantic Novel of the Year award. In 2020 she received the Dutch Platinum award for sales over 300,000 copies for a single novel in one year – an award last won by J K Rowling for Harry Potter.

In collaboration with her son Harry Whittaker, she also devised a series of books for children called the Guardian Angels series, based on stories told to her children whenever they were facing a challenging situation. Harry then wrote the books, and they are now being published internationally.

Though she brought up her four children mostly in Norfolk in England, in 2015 she fulfilled her dream of buying a remote farmhouse in West Cork, Ireland, which she always felt was her spiritual home, and indeed this was where her last five books were written.

Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and died on June 11th 2021, surrounded by her family.

Harry Whittaker grew up in the 1990s and spent the first few years of his life on the rural west coast of Ireland, with a poor TV signal (and certainly no iPad). It was therefore left to his mother to entertain him, which she did through telling him stories. As a result, Harry has become a storyteller himself, as an award-winning radio presenter for the BBC and a member of one of the UK’s most renowned improv troupes, who perform all over the UK. Harry and his mum now hope to spread a little warmth through the Guardian Angels series, which is Harry’s first published work.

Jane Ray lives in North London and has illustrated many books for children. She has been shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award six times, and won the Smarties Award for her book The Story of Creation. She also illustrated Rumer Godden's The Fairy Doll and other Tales from the Dolls' House.