Margaret Leroy grew up in the New Forest and studied music at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. She has worked as a music therapist, teacher, and psychiatric social worker.

She has written books about women and relationships – Pleasure: the truth about female sexuality (1993) and Some Girls Do: why women do and don't make the first move (1997): both were serialised in the Daily Express.

For two years she wrote an agony aunt column for Options magazine, and her articles and short stories have been published in the Observer, the Sunday Express and the Mail on Sunday.

She has written four novels: Trust (1999) was televised by Granada as Loving You and starred Douglas Henshall and Niamh Cusack and reached an audience of eight million. Then followed Alysson's Shoes (2002), Postcards from Berlin (2003) and The River House (2005). Postcards from Berlin was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her books have been translated into ten languages.

She has appeared on numerous radio and TV programmes, including Woman's Hour, Steve Wright, Kilroy and The Time The Place. She is married with two daughters and lives in Surrey.