Born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Margaret Dickinson moved to the coast at the age of seven and so began her love for the sea and the Lincolnshire landscape. Her ambition to be a writer began early and she had her first novel published at the age of twenty-five. This was followed by twenty-seven further titles including Plough the Furrow, Sow the Seed and Reap the Harvest, which make up her Lincolnshire Fleethaven trilogy. Many of her novels are set in the heart of her home country, but in Tangled Threads and Twisted Strands the stories included not only Lincolnshire but also the framework knitting and lace industries of Nottingham. The Workhouse Museum at Southwell in Nottinghamshire inspired Without Sin and Derbyshire formed the backdrop for Pauper's Gold. Part of the story in Suffragette Girl took place in Davos, Switzerland, but Forgive and Forget centres wholly on the rich history of the beautiful city of Lincoln. A visit to the wonderful National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire, was the inspiration for The Clippie Girls, set in Sheffield during the Second World War. For Fairfield Hall the setting returns once again to Lincolnshire, with the magnificent Gunby Hall being the inspiration for the house in the story.