[2] As a child, she underwent orthopedic surgery to correct proximal femoral focal deficiency affecting the left leg.
[3] Flyn holds an MA in experimental psychology from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and a NCTJ certificate in newspaper journalism from Lambeth College.
[9] She is the author of nonfiction books Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape (2022)[10] and Thicker Than Water: History, Secrets, and Guilt (2016),[11] and has published essays and articles in Granta, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Sunday Times Magazine, and other publications.
[12][13][14] Her first book, Thicker Than Water, tells the story of a distant relative, Angus McMillan, who is believed to have been one of the ringleaders of the Gippsland massacres of Gunaikurnai aboriginal people.
[15][16][17] Her second book, Islands of Abandonment, is an exploration of places where nature is reclaiming lands once occupied by humans, such as Plymouth, Montserrat, and Chernobyl.