Kara Gnodde was born in Johannesburg and raised on a diet of Dr Seuss and no TV. After graduating from the University of Cape Town, she joined Saatchis in London as a strategic planner – work that required head and heart, her favourite kind. She lived in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore before settling back in the UK with her husband and three children. She still spends as much time as she can in South Africa.

A discussion on the radio about a maths problem that could change the world, or perhaps just help keep her messy desk tidy, gave her a place to start The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, her debut novel.