Christianna Brand was born in 1907 in Malaya and spent her early years in India. She had a number of different occupations, including model, dancer, shop assistant and governess. She wrote crime novels featuring Inspector Cockerill and three novels for children, featuring the magical nanny, Nurse Matilda. Christianna Brand was married to her husband Roland for nearly 50 years. Her Nurse Matilda novels were filmed as Nanny McPhee, starring Emma Thompson, Angela Lansbury and Colin Firth. Christianna Brand died in 1988.