Anne O'Brien is a successful historical fiction and historical romance novelist, born in the small town of West Riding in Yorkshire. After gaining a BA Honors degree in History at Manchester University and a Master’s in Education at Hull, she lived in East Yorkshire for many years as a teacher of history. Today, she has sold over a million copies of her books in the UK and internationally, making her a Sunday Times Bestselling author.
O'Brien's home is in the Welsh Marches, a remote region of England that has been surrounded by echoes from the past for centuries. Hereford, Shrewsbury, and Ludlow are nearby, each with their own historical significance and connections to the Plantagenet and Tudor kings. She lives in an eighteenth-century timber-framed cottage, which has undoubtedly seen much history in its two hundred years of existence. It is here that she finds inspiration for her novels about the forgotten women of medieval history.
When not writing, she enjoys spending time in her large rambling garden, growing organic vegetables and soft fruit. She has a wild garden, an orchard, a formal pond, and herbaceous flower borders, which she shares with rabbits, pheasants, frogs, goldfinches, hedgehogs, and buzzards. Her interest in herbs and their uses, particularly in medicine and witchcraft, has also found its way into some of her novels.
O'Brien's first novel, The Runaway Heiress, was published by Mills and Boon in 2004. She has since drawn on her interest in the Stuart century to write about the English Civil War and Restoration England of Charles II. Her latest book, A Marriage of Fortune, the sequel to The Royal Game, will be published on 28th September 2023 in paperback. She enjoys yoga, singing with a local Choral Society, and watercolour painting for relaxation. O'Brien is also active on social media, with a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, where she shares inspiration for her historical novels.