Sarah Alderson spent most of her life in London before quitting her job in the non-profit sector in 2009. She embarked on a round-the-world trip with her husband and daughter, who was obsessed with princesses, to find a new place to call home. Their journey included several months in India, Singapore, Australia, and the US, before they settled in Bali for five years.

Sarah completed her first novel, Hunting Lila (winner of the Kingston Book Award), just before leaving the UK. She wrote the sequel on a beach in India and signed a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster by the time they reached Bali. Her third book, Fated, about a teenage demon slayer, was published in January 2012. The Sound, a thriller romance set in Nantucket, followed in August 2013.