Frances Osborne

Osborne's first biography, Lilla's Feast, tells the story of her great-grandmother's life and was published by Doubleday in September 2004.

Osborne was educated at Windlesham House School, Marlborough College and the University of Oxford and then trained as a barrister, during which period she became friends with the future wife of Ed Miliband, Justine Thornton, with whom she later embarked on a backpacking trip across South America.

Lilla Eckford wrote a cookery and housekeeping book when in a Japanese internment camp in World War II.

[6] Lilla's Feast, published by Doubleday in 2004, has been translated into six different languages, is a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book and a New York Times Editor's Choice.

[3] The Bolter: Idina Sackville – the woman who scandalised 1920s society and became White Mischief's infamous seductress is a biography of another of Osborne's great-grandmothers, this time a maternal one.

She inspired many writers and artists, from Nancy Mitford[7] to Greta Garbo[8] but Idina's compelling charm masked the pain of betrayal and heartbreak.

[3] The Bolter was published in the U.K. by Virago Press dated 2008 and in the U.S. by Knopf in June 2009 and in trade paperback by Vintage Books in May 2010.