About the Author

Anita Shreve was born in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1946. She is the eldest of her 2 sisters. Shreve’s father was an airline pilot and her mother was a stay at home mom. She graduated from Tufts University. After graduating, Anita Shreve became a high school teacher which is when she began writing fictional stories. One of Shreve’s first published novels was "Past the Island, Drifting," which was awarded an O. Henry Prize in 1975. At first, Shreve didn’t think she would be able to make a good living being an author, so she turned to journalism. She travelled to Africa and spent 3 years writing articles in Kenya, for magazines such as Quest, US, and Newsweek. When she returned to the United States she continued to raise her children and writing freelance articles. Shreve noticed that she had a passion for writing fiction and went back to writing books. In 1989, Anita published her first novel, Eden Close. Since then she has written 12 other novels. In 1998, Shreve received the PEN/L. L. Winship Award and the New England Book Award for fiction. In 1999, she received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey, and The Pilot's Wife became the 25th selection of Oprah's Book Club and an international bestseller.