I grew up in Edinburgh, surrounded by its dramatic hills, Georgian streets, and shadowy medieval closes. I’ve always loved Scotland’s landscapes and literary heritage—especially Robert Louis Stevenson, to whom I feel connected through our shared Colinton parish roots.
I write on nineteenth-century literature and culture, most recently Victorian female detectives, and I also publish journalism on books, arts, and travel—from following Jonathan Harker’s route to Transylvania to attending a Viennese ball solo, cooking in Paris, and navigating Cannes as a fifth wheel.
My fiction blends fairytale and comedy in a recognisably modern world where magic still lingers.
I teach English Literature at the University of St Andrews, including a course on speechwriting inspired by my early work at the UN in New York.