Valerie Martin is the author of ten novels, including Trespass, Mary Reilly, Italian Fever, and Property, three collections of short fiction, and a biography of St. Francis of Assisi, titled Salvation. She has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, as well as the Kafka Prize (for Mary Reilly) and Britain’s Orange Prize (for Property). Among others, Martin’s last novel, The Confessions of Edward Day was a New York Times notable book for 2009.A new novel The Ghost of the Mary Celeste was published by Nan Talese/Random House in January of 2014, and a middle-grade reader Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea co-written with Valerie’s niece Lisa Martin, came out from Algonquin in October of 2013.Valerie Martin has taught in many writing programs, including Mt. Holyoke College, University of Massachusetts, and Sarah Lawrence College. She resides in Dutchess County, New York and is currently Professor of English at Mt. Holyoke College