Joanna Hickson spent twenty-five years at the BBC writing and presenting for radio and television. Gripped by Shakespeare's historical plays, Joanna began researching the King Henry V's 'fair Kate' as a schoolgirl and the story of Catherine de Valois and the Tudor genesis has remained with her throughout life. Joanna Hickson lives in an old farmhouse in East Lothian and is married with a large family and a wayward Irish terrier.