Before becoming a full-time writer she was a practising psychoanalytic psychologist and she drew on her experiences in writing her first novel, Monster Love which was published in 2008.
According to The Guardian it 'shocked and impressed in equal measure'[1] and has been compared to Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin.
[3] Born in 1949, her mother was a child psychologist, her father was scientist and author Kit Pedler.
[4] She has two daughters and a granddaughter[7] and now lives in Clapham, South London with her husband of 39 years who is Judge Michael Jonathon Topolski Queen's Counsel.
[5] She grew up in the area but expressed an interest in moving to East Dulwich in a May 2008 interview.