Sarah Dunant

About

Known for such novels as The Birth of Venus and Mapping the Edge, this British writer was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for her 2009 work Sacred Hearts and won the Silver Dagger Award for her 1993 crime novel Fatlands.

Before Fame

After graduating from Newnham College, Cambridge with a degree in history, she worked briefly for the BBC and then traveled throughout Asia and Central and South America. She published her first (co-written) novel, Exterminating Angels, in 1984.

Trivia

Her 2013 historical novel, Blood and Beauty, focuses on the Italian Borgia dynasty.

Family Life

A native of London, England, she completed her early education at The Godolphin and Latymer School.

Associated With

She was born in the same year as fellow British novelist Patrick McGrath.