Dee Williams was born in Rotherhithe, London, where all her books are set, although it is many years since she lived there. "Somehow nostalgia plays a large part in all of our lives."

It was when she was living in Spain with her husband and had plenty of time, when she decided to have a go at writing a novel digging into her wartime memories. So she started her first novel on a portable typewriter. When Dee and her husband returned home in 1989 she sent her manuscript to Headline and in 1990, after two re-writes, Carrie of Culver Road was born.