MARITA CONLON-McKENNA is one of Ireland’s most popular children’s authors. She has written nine bestselling children’s books to date, and they have been translated into many different languages. Under the Hawthorn Tree, her first novel, became an immediate bestseller and has been described as ‘the biggest success story in children’s historical fiction’. Her most recent novel, A Girl Called Blue, has received wide critical acclaim. Marita lives in Dublin with her husband and four children.