Alison White grew up in Sheffield, studied in Leeds and moved to Glasgow, where she set up her own landscape architecture business. In 1996 Alison's first child, Louis, was delivered by emergency caesarean section at thirty-two weeks' gestation. He suffered severe brain damage, and has cerebral palsy and learning difficulties. In 2003 Alison left Scotland to live in remote South West Wales with her husband, Greg, and their three children, Louis, Natasha and Jack, where they still live today. There they built a house to meet Louis's needs and were able to allow their two younger children to run wild.