Elsie Donald Burch is not a scientist but she is an autodidactic learner. She was born in Tennessee and educated at local schools, Sweet Briar College, in Virginia, and Edinburgh University. She worked at Marshall Cavendish, editing a multi-volume encyclopaedia, then started a small book packaging company called Tigerlily before becoming a full time writer. Elsie has published six books, three novels and three guide books including: A Model American (Doubleday), A Rope of Sand (Doubleday), Nashborough (HarperCollins), The French Farmhouse (Little, Brown), Debrett's Etiquette and Modern Manners (creator and editor), and The London Shopping Guide (Penguin). Today, she divides her time between London and southwest France.