Marente de Moor (1972) grew up fascinated by Russian culture, moving to Russia just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. She lived there for eight years, attended drama school in Saint Petersburg, and worked as a reporter and columnist. Her collected columns appeared in 1999 as Petersburgse Vertellingen (‘Petersburg Stories’). After her return to the Netherlands, she continued writing columns and started a career as a novelist. Since the appearance of her debut in 2007, she has published several successful titles. In 2011 she received the Ako Literatuurprijs for De Nederlandse Maagd (‘The Dutch Virgin’), and Rounday, tuinscène (‘Rounday, Garden Scene’) was shortlisted for the Libris Literatuur Prijs 2014.