DOROTHY DUNNETT

Born Dorothy Halliday in Dunfermline in Scotland, she was educated in Edinburgh at Gillespie's High School, the locale for fellow student Murial Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She worked for many years as a Press Officer for the British Civil Service. She married Alastair Dunnett in 1946. In addition to her marriage and her career, she started a second endeavor as a portrait painter and became much sought after for her talents. When she began to write, she chose historical fiction as her major interest.