Jane Cockram was born and educated in Australia, where she studied journalism at RMIT, majoring in Literature. After earning a post-graduate degree in publishing and editing at Melbourne University, she worked for Pan Macmillan Publishers and then at Borders. She spent a year living in the West Country of England, the setting for The House of Brides, and daydreams of returning there. She resides in Melbourne with her husband and two children.