LAURA BEATTY lives in the middle of Salcey, one of the very few remaining medieval hunting forests in England. The forest, she says, has provided us with food, forage, fuel, materials for building and transport - yet it is also the place where we keep our bogeymen, where witches live, and where characters go in 'and come out wiser or sadder or dead or different'.

Laura Beatty is married with three children. She is the author of a a book about Anne Boleyn, written for children, and a biography of Lillie Langtry, described as 'unputdownable' (Express), 'vastly entertaining' (Observer), 'fresh and revealing' (Literary Review) and 'irresistibly enjoyable' (Sunday Telegraph).