Gretta Curran Browne was born in Dublin city where she spent some of her childhood years in the notorious Goldenbridge orphanage. Later she was transferred to a second orphanage in Preston in England, which was less harsh, and where, due to one special nun, she became acquainted with the magic of storytelling.
In her teenage years she moved to London to study Drama, working as a telephonist at night to pay her rent and attending Drama school in the day: after which she spent some years working full time in theatre and occasionally in television.
Her first attempts at professional writing began after her two children were born, and she became a full-time mother, writing at night when the world and her children were asleep. She began with two short stories, both of which won prizes.
She then began her first novel, `Tread Softly On My Dream's, based on the true story of the young Irish hero, Robert Emmet. Published by Headline and critically acclaimed by the Press, Tread Softly On My Dreams was acquired by the University of Notre Dame in the US, and The Princess Grace Irish Library in the palace of Monaco. This was followed by her second Irish novel, Fire On The Hill and later followed by her first contemporary novel, Ghosts In Sunlight.
Gretta's writing career was interrupted in full flow when her son broke his back in an accident and needed her care for some years. Now fully recovered, her son is a successful young actor and Gretta has returned to her passion for writing.
She has just completed her new Historical novel, By Eastern Windows, based again on a true story, set primarily in Scotland and India, and has already started work on the sequel The Far Horizon, set primarily in early Australia.
Gretta is married to a lawyer and lives in London.
