Born in Dorset in 1969, Clare had a rural childhood in Essex, Kent and Cheshire before finally making it to London, where she lives in Hackney with her husband. She has an English degree from Oxford University and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, and has had spells working as a bank manager, a marketing strategist and a professional chef.

Her first novel, The Cloud Chamber, was described by the Observer as ‘part spy story, part scientific thriller, part romance’.  Based on the scientific discoveries behind the development of the atomic bomb, it drew on her own family history as the daughter and granddaughter of nuclear physicists.  Her second novel, The Evangelist, is about a popular scientist who finds it impossible to believe that he is ever wrong.

Photo: © Chris O’Reilly