Kate Grenville

The Secret River is actually inspired by Kate Grenville's own convict ancestor, Solomon Wiseman. He was brought to Australia from England as punishment for theft and, like William Thornhill, never returned to England. Kate Grenville's father was a judge and a barrister in Sydney, while her mother was a pharmacist. After completing her BA at the University of Sydney, Grenville edited documentaries for Film Australia. In the late 1970s she lived in London and Paris. During this time, she did some film editing to support her writing career. After attending the University of Colorado at Boulder for a MA in Creative Writing, she returned to Sydney. Her first book, the short story collection Bearded Ladies, was published in 1984 and was received well by critics. She published her first novel, Lilian's Story, in 1985. Lilian's Story was adapted into a film ten years later, and the film version achieved similar critical success. Grenville teaches creative writing and was very involved in writing several of the reference texts commonly used in creative writing classes and workshops. She lives in Sydney with her husband.