Born in Bolton, where she still lives, in 1933, Patricia Kathleen Caldwell Turner was educated at Bolton School, and at the C.F. Mott Training College, and has taught History, English, and Spanish. She married in 1979, and has no children. Her school story series, set at St. Vivians school, was begun when Caldwell was in her late teens, with the first two installments being published in the 1950s. The author returned to the series in the 1990s, printing a third installment privately. In addition to her children’s novels, Caldwell has also authored Spanish textbooks for use in the classroom.