Annie Garthwaite grew up in a working-class community in the north-east of England and is a product of a comprehensive education.

 

She studied English at the University of Wales before embarking on a thirty-year international business career, which included running her own corporate communications consultancy for several years with clients across the world.

 

In 2017 she returned to her first love, books, and undertook a Creative Writing MA at the University of Warwick. During this time, she wrote her first novel, CECILY, which was published by Penguin in July 2021.