Jon Mallalieu was born in Stockport but was brought up in Bishops Stortford. After school he spent two years in Israel working as a volunteer and learning Hebrew on various Kibbutzim up and down the country. He eventually returned home after a brief stint working in a hospital laundry in Amsterdam. After studying for a degree in geography he settled down to a steady job teaching in a lovely girls’ grammar school in Kent. He is married with two beautiful children and lives on Kent’s south coast.