Joanna Nell was born in the UK and studied medicine at Cambridge and Oxford universities. Her essays and short fiction have won multiple awards and been published in medical journals and literary anthologies. A former ship's doctor and now working as a GP, Joanna writes character-driven stories, creating older characters who are not afraid to break the rules and defy society's expectations of ageing. Her first three novels, THE SINGLE LADIES OF JACARANDA RETIREMENT VILLAGE, THE LAST VOYAGE OF MRS HENRY PARKER and THE GREAT ESCAPE FROM WOODLANDS NURSING HOME, were national bestsellers. Joanna lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches.