The book The Moonspinners was written by Mary Stewart. She was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England. After boarding-school, she received a B.A. with first class honors in English Language and Literature from Durham University and went on for her M.A. Later she returned to her own University as a Lecturer in English. She married in 1945. Her husband is Sir Frederick Stewart, who is Chairman of the Geology Department at Edinburgh University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Mary Stewart's career as a novelist began in 1954.