Jill Engledow was born in England and grew up in Texas, Hawaii, and Guam. She moved to Maui in 1968, a time when the island’s old plantation-days rural lifestyle was fading. After a few years of raising goats, vegetables, and foster children, Jill moved on to write about Maui as an award-winning newspaper journalist and then as the author of nonfiction books on island history. Now she uses her extensive knowledge of Maui history in novels about women making their way on the island, juggling their desire for love with their need for independence.