Discovering early the power of books she left home at 16 to live in a Mini and get on with her education. After graduating from Oxford University she worked for a while in the theatre and published her first novel at 25.Oranges Are Not The Only Fruitis based on her own upbringing but using herself as a fictional character. She scripted the novel into a BAFTA-winning BBC drama. 27 years later she re-visited that material in the bestselling memoirWhy Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?She has written 10 novels for adults, as well as children's books, non-fiction and screenplays. She writes regularly for theGuardian. She lives in the Cotswolds in a wood and in Spitalfields, London.
She believes that art is for everyone and it is her mission to prove it.