 Edith Pargeter, who also wrote under the more widely known pseudonym of Ellis Peters, was born in the village of Horsehay in Shropshire in 1913. She loved the Welsh borderlands and all her best works are set there. Edith enjoyed writing from a young age and had her first novel published in 1936. During the War, she enlisted in the Women's Royal Navy Services and was awarded the British Empire Medal on VE Day. During this period she wrote the much-acclaimed Jim Benison Trilogy tracing the adventures of a young British soldier. After the war, Edith's many visits to Czechoslovakia encouraged her to learn the Czech language and translate many of the country's great works of literature. As her daily staple, she wrote the 'Inspector Felse' mystery novels, under the name of Ellis Peters, while work progressed on her great historical Welsh border novels, the Heaven Tree Trilogy (1960-2) and the Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet (1974-77). However, it was not until 1977, that the now-famous Brother Cadfael first came upon the scene. Having re-read the true story of Shrewsbury Abbey's acquisition of the bones of St. Winifred, Edith was struck with the idea that it would make a marvellous backdrop for a murder mystery and the sleuthing herbalist was born.
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