Simon Mawer

Born in England and educated at Millfield School in Somerset and at Brasenose College, Oxford, Mawer took a degree in Zoology and has worked as a biology teacher for most of his life.

He published his first novel, Chimera, (Hamish Hamilton, 1989) at the comparatively late age of forty-one.

Mendel's Dwarf (1997) followed three works of modest success and established him as a writer of note on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 2009 he published The Glass Room, a novel about a modernist villa Tugendhat built in a Czech city.

His 2012 book The Girl Who Fell from the Sky (Trapeze in the US) was received positively on both sides of the Atlantic, described as "a professionally crafted and engaging story" and a "skillfully and intelligently executed thriller".