Inspired by a visit to Spinalonga, the abandoned Greek leprosy colony, Victoria Hislop wrote The Island in 2005. It became an international bestseller and a 26-part Greek TV series. She was named Newcomer of the Year at the British Book Awards and is now an ambassador for Lepra.

Her affection for the Mediterranean then took her to Spain, and in the number one bestseller The Return she wrote about the painful secrets of its civil war. In The Thread, Victoria returned to Greece to tell the turbulent tale of Thessaloniki and its people across the twentieth century.

Shortlisted for a British Book Award, it confirmed her reputation as an inspirational storyteller. It was followed by her much-admired Greece-set collection, The Last Dance and Other Stories. Her fourth novel, The Sunrise, was published to widespread acclaim, and was a Sunday Times number one bestseller.

Victoria Hislop's last book, Cartes Postales from Greece, is fiction illustrated with photographs. It was a Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and one of the biggest selling books of 2016. Victoria divides her time between England and Greece.

Whilst working initially as a primary teacher, then within community arts and theatre, Gill Smith pursued illustration and achieved an MA with distinction in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. She was shortlisted for the Batsford Illustration prize and a winner of international competition, "Picture This". She illustrated Maria's Island, a retelling of Victoria Hislop's bestselling book, The Island, reimagined for children.