Karen Essex is an award-win­ning nation­al and inter­na­tion­al best-sell­ing author whose work brings history’s most fas­ci­nat­ing women vivid­ly to life. Her nov­els, includ­ing Leonardo’s Swans (Pre­mio Roma Prize), Steal­ing Athena, and Run, Dar­ling, blend schol­ar­ship with pas­sion. Also a screen­writer, her bio­graph­i­cal nov­els Kleopa­tra and Pharaoh are in tele­vi­sion devel­op­ment, and her work is pub­lished in twen­ty-nine languages.