The way we were?

Marie Joseph was born in Lancashire, England, and was educated at Blackburn High School for Girls. Before her marriage she was in the Civil Service. She began to write at the age of 40, and after a very successful career as a short-story writer went on to write novels, sheuses her Northern background to enrich her bestselling novels. No less than five of her Lancashire based novels have been short-listed for the Romantic Novelist's Association Award during the past few years, and in 1983, Gemini Girls was runner-up. Her novel: A Better World Than This won the 1987 Romantic Novelist's Association Major Award. Down-to-earth characters bring a vivid authenticity to her stories, which were written with both humour and poignancy. She now lives in Middlesex with her husband, a retired chartered Engineer, and they have two married daughters and eight grandchildren.