Leslie Wilson was born in Nottingham. She studied German at Durham University and lived in England, Germany and Hong Kong. She has worked in adult education and as a translator. Her first novel, Mourning is Not Permitted, was published in 1990. Her second novel, Malefice, was published in 1992 and her third, The Mountain of Immoderate Desires, in 1994. Her first young adult novel, Last Train to Kummersdorf, was nominated for The Guardian Children's Book Award and for the Branford Boase Award.