Benita Brown was born and brought up in Newcastle by her English mother, the youngest of thirteen children, and her Indian father, who came to Newcastle to study medicine and fell in love with the place and the people. After meeting her husband while she was at drama school in London, Benita returned to her home town and worked as a teacher and broadcaster before becoming a full-time writer, publishing many much-loved novels. Sadly, Counting the Days was Benita's last book, as she passed away in April 2014 following a sudden illness. She will be greatly missed.