Jane Aiken Hodge was a British-American author best known for her historical novels and biographical works. Born in Massachusetts, she spent most of her life in the UK and became a British citizen in 1972. Over her prolific career, she wrote more than thirty books, including acclaimed historical novels such as "Polonaise," "The Lost Garden," and "Savannah Purchase," the latter being part of a trilogy set during and after the American War of Independence. She also authored well-received biographies, including studies of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, as well as "Passion and Principle," a nonfiction work about women in the Regency period.
Hodge's writing often explored historical settings with a focus on strong female characters, earning her recognition as a feminist writer. Educated at Oxford and Harvard, she worked as a civil servant, journalist, and reviewer before dedicating herself to fiction. Her novels blended meticulous research with engaging storytelling, traversing the "borderland between mystery and novel." In her later years, she expanded into contemporary and detective fiction, publishing with Severn House. The daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Conrad Aiken and sister of author Joan Aiken, Hodge left a lasting legacy in historical and romantic fiction before her death in 2009.