Brenda Maddox was born and brought up in the USA and has been resident in the UK since 1960. She is a biographer of international repute. Nora: the life of Mrs James Joyce was translated into eight languages, was awarded the LA Times Prize for Biography and was shortlisted for the Whitbread. The Married Man: A Life of DH Lawrence won the Whitbread Prize for Biography. George's Ghosts was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.