Mary Clare O’Grady was born in Irvington, New York, spent part of her childhood in Puerto Rico and England, and later studied at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. These early life experiences nurtured a desire to explore places far from home—through travel or books.

Her writing is inspired by the lives of her grandparents who lived through the Irish War of Independence, the subsequent civil war, and were greeted in the United States by the Great Depression. Mary Clare holds a B.S. in Finance from Providence College and an MBA from Boston College but spends her time creating fictional characters searching for ways out of difficult situations.

When not writing or reading Mary Clare enjoys riding her bike (downhill), feeling the rhythm of her skis over moguls, listening to surf crashing, the quiet of the woods, and losing track of time in her perennial garden or her most recent knitting project. She lives in Newport, Rhode Island.