Brought up in a small village near Warrington, Doreen Rawsthorne gained a place at Urmston Grammar School, where she became fascinated with history and foreign languages. From the age of 19 until 55, she worked as secretary to managers of various firms. At the age of 38, however, she took time off to look after her father-in-law and wrote The Price of Pearls. When he died, she started working again. In 2013, she and her husband moved to a retirement complex and, in doing so, found the book she had forgotten about!