Jennifer Johnston is accepted as one of the finest Irish writers and has an international reputation. Her books include The Captain and the Kings, The Gates, Shadows on Our Skin, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1977, The Old Jest, winner of the 1979 Whitbread Award for Fiction, The Christmas Tree, The Railway Station Man, Fool's Sanctuary, The Invisible Worm and The Illusionist. Many of her books are published by Penguin. Jennifer Johnston lives in Northern Ireland.