Alexandre Dumas was born on 24 July 1802 near Paris. His father, who was the son of a French marquis and a former slave, died when Alexandre was three years old. He was brought up by his mother and later moved to Paris to work as a clerk. He became a playwright, historian and prolific novelist, penning a string of successful and celebrated books including The Three Musketeers (1844) and The Count of Monte Cristo (1844-5), as well as a keen traveller and cook. Dumas died on 5 December 1870, remarking of Death, 'I shall tell her a story, and she shall be kind to me.'
Sarah Ardizzone is an award-winning translator. She received the Scott-Moncrieff Prize in 2007 for her translation of Faiza Guene's Just Like Tomorrow, and has twice won the Marsh Prize for Children's Literature in Translation, in 2005 for Daniel Pennac's Eye of the Wolf and in 2009 for Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle. Her recent highly praised translations include Joann Sfar's graphic novel version of The Little Prince, which was a New York Times Notable Book. She lives in South London.
Kitty Arden is a prolific artist, international designer and florist. She has exhibited at the Royal Academy and more recently at The Long Museum in Shanghai. She designs sets, textiles and ceramics, as well as the packaging for Royal Warrant holding chocolatier Prestat. She designed the flowers on The Royal Barge for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.