The Matchmaker

Born in Dublin in 1956 and brought up in Goatstown, Marita went to school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Mount Anville, later working in the family business, the bank, and a travel agency. She has four children with her husband James, and they live in the Stillorgan area of Dublin. Marita was always fascinated by the Famine period in Irish history and read everything available on the subject. When she heard a radio report of an unmarked children's grave from the Famine period being found under a hawthorn tree, she decided to write her first book, Under the Hawthorn Tree.

Caroline Lennon is an Irish actress and voice artist. She is best known as the voice of Siobhan Hathaway on BBC Radio 4's The Archers. Her extensive range of voice work also includes appearances on BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please and over 400 unabridged audiobooks narrations for authors such as Maeve Binchy, Cecilia Ahern, Jane Casey, Marita Conlon-McKenna and many more. Caroline's theatre and film work ranges from Greek tragedy to modern Irish classics and everything in between.