She is an English novelist and short story writer, born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. When she was still young her parents left England and settled in South Africa. As a child she had a bout of bronchial pneumonia which damaged the pineal gland and led to fits. It left her with a sleep disorder. Typically she writes about damaged or eccentric people in mundane situations, and has a fondness for bleak, isolated settings. Wide Open and Behindlings are set respectively on the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island. Her 2004 novel, Clear, is set in London during David Blaine's Above the Below 44 day fast in London in 2003.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Barker