Susanna Clarke was born in Nottingham in 1959, the eldest daughter of a Methodist minister. She was educated at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and has worked in various areas of publishing. In 1990 she left London to teach English in Turin and Bilbao for two years, returning to England to work at Simon and Schuster as a cookery editor.

Her novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was published by Bloomsbury to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was filmed as a major BBC drama. She followed with a collection of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu. Her short story Mr Simonelli, or The Fairy Widower was short-listed for a World Fantasy Award. Her most recent novel, Piranesi, was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Susanna lives in Cambridge with her partner, the novelist and reviewer Colin Greenland.