'These books will keep readers hooked until the end' Bookseller; 'Pacy...A most engaging read' Books for Keeps; 'An eminently satisfying and delightful read' Sunday Tribune; 'Hugely enjoyable romp of a tale' School Librarian; 'A colourful, action-packed story' Publishing News 'A highly enjoyable story full of adventure, likeable character and sharp, witty dialogue' Anti-slavery magazine. 'Rip-roaring saga...thoroughly entertaining...lively and absorbing' The Times Educational Supplement; 'This is rollicking historical fiction at its best, a great read' Sunday Express

Julia Golding read English at Cambridge then joined the Foreign Office and served in Poland. Her work as a diplomat took her from the high point of town twinning in the Tatra Mountains to the low of inspecting the bottom of a Silesian coal mine. On leaving Poland, she exchanged diplomacy for academia and took a doctorate in the literature of the English Romantic Period at Oxford. She then joined Oxfam as a lobbyist on conflict issues, campaigning at the UN and with governments to lessen the impact of conflict on civilians living in war zones. Married with three children, Julia now lives in Oxford. The Diamond of Drury Lane won the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2006.