A Taste for Love

Born in Dublin in 1956 and brought up in Goatstown, Marita went to school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Mount Anville, later working in the family business, the bank, and a travel agency. She has four children with her husband James, and they live in the Stillorgan area of Dublin. Marita was always fascinated by the Famine period in Irish history and read everything available on the subject. When she heard a radio report of an unmarked children's grave from the Famine period being found under a hawthorn tree, she decided to write her first book, Under the Hawthorn Tree.

Emma has worked extensively in both classical and contemporary theatre, including roles with the RSC such as Polya in Philistines, Hitler in Mephisto, Cressida in Troilus and Cressida and Louise Danton in The Danton Affair. She also works in the vocal field and regularly records audiobooks. Her voice work covers many ages and accents from the child Angelica in Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife to the elderly dying Maddie in the haunting Irish novel, The Butterfly Cabinet.