Sofka Zinovieff was born in London. She studied social anthropology at Cambridge, then lived in Greece and Moscow.

She is the acclaimed author of three works of non-fiction, Eurydice Street- A Place in Athens, Red Princess- A Revolutionary Life and The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me, a New York Times Editors ' Choice 2015, and one previous novel, The House on Paradise Street.

Her writing has appeared in publications including the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the Times Literary Supplement, the Spectator and the Independent. She divides her time between Athens and England.