María Dueñas Vinuesa was born in 1964 in Puertollano, Spain. She has seven siblings and is a professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Murcia. María is also an academic author and has worked at different universities in North America.

She came into the spotlight in 2009 with her first novel, El tiempo entre costuras, which is known in English as The Time in Between and The Seamstress. This historical espionage novel achieved great success, selling more than a million copies and has been translated into over 25 languages.

María Dueñas is married to Manuel Ballesteros, who is also a professor, and they have two children. The family resides in Cartagena.