Hilary McKay won the Costa Children's Book Award for The Skylarks' War , the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Exiles , and the Smarties and the Whitbread Award for The Exiles in Love and Saffy's Angel respectively. She is also the author of Straw Into Gold , A Time of Green Magic and The Swallows' Flight , a companion novel to The Skylarks' War , among many critically-acclaimed titles. Hilary studied Botany and Zoology at the University of St Andrews, and worked as a biochemist before the draw of the pen became too strong and she decided to become a full-time writer. Hilary lives in Derbyshire with her family.