“There were certain moments upon which the whole of the future course of one's life might turn. And almost inevitably they popped out at one without any warning at all, leaving one with no time to consider or engage in a reasoned debate with oneself. One had to make a split second decision, and much depended upon it. Perhaps everything.”

Welsh-Canadian novelist, historical romance

Mary Balogh is a Welsh-Canadian novelist, born and raised in Swansea, known for her historical romance. She moved to Canada in 1967 to begin a teaching career, later settling in Kipling, Saskatchewan, where she became a school principal. Her debut novel was published in 1985. Balogh writes historical fiction set in the Regency era, or more broadly in the Georgian period, and her work is rooted in that setting’s social codes, relationships, and changing manners.