Melanie Benjamin is the author of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling historical novel, THE AVIATOR'S WIFE, a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Her previous historical novels include the national bestseller ALICE I HAVE BEEN, about Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, and THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MRS. TOM THUMB, the story of 32-inch-tall Lavinia Warren Stratton, a star during the Gilded Age. Her novels have been translated in over ten languages, featured in national magazines such as "Good Housekeeping," "People," and "Entertainment Weekly," and optioned for film. Melanie is a native of the Midwest, having grown up in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she pursued her first love, theater. After raising her two sons, Melanie, a life-long reader (including being the proud winner, two years in a row, of her hometown library's summer reading program!), decided to pursue a writing career. After writing her own parenting column for a local magazine, and winning a short story contest, Melanie published two contemporary novels under her real name, Melanie Hauser, before turning to historical fiction. Melanie lives in Chicago with her husband, and near her two grown sons. In addition to writing, she puts her theatrical training to good use by being a member of the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. When she isn't writing or speaking, she's reading. And always looking for new stories to tell.
