Following the success of her first novel Moi D'abord in 1979, Pancol moved to New York City where she spent the next decade pursuing creative writing and screenwriting classes at Columbia University while producing three more novels La Barbare in 1981, Scarlett, si possible and Les Hommes cruels ne courent pas les rues.

It has also been translated into Russian, Chinese, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian, Korean, Vietnamese, Latvian, Czech, Slovak, Hebrew and Norwegian.

It was adapted into the 2014 film Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles starring Julie Depardieu and Emmanuelle Béart.

Katherine Pancol is divorced from Pierre Pichot de Champfleury with whom she had two grown children, Clément and scenarist Charlotte.

In Crocodiles, the main character, Josephine Cortes, struggles with a divorce, economic problems, a difficult teenage daughter, a tyrannical mother, and low self-esteem.

Even Florine, the 12th century rebellious young heroine Joséphine creates for her novel, becomes a character in her own right as her destiny unfolds within a well-developed medieval setting.