Leonie Frieda became a bestselling author with her first book, CATHERINE DE MEDICI, which reprinted six times in hardback Marvellous reviews: 'A most fascinating picture of French court life. The political complexities are kept mercifully clear, the main lines of rivalry sharp, the characters vivid' - Anne Wroe, Daily Telegraph 'This masterful and compelling biography...narrative history at its best, both scholarly and as captivating as a thriller. She has brought a largely forgotten heroine-villainess and a whole sumptuously vicious era to life again' - Simon Sebag Montefiore, Mail on Sunday Paperback has now sold 60,000 copies and is reprinting regularly RENAISSANCE WOMEN plays to author's strengths and her knowledge of this period of European history

Swedish by birth, but educated in Britain, Leonie Frieda speaks five languages and is a member of the Institute of Linguists. Her long interest in Catherine de Medici resulted in a biography that was a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic and was translated into six languages. She lives in London with her daughter Elisabeth and son Jake.