Constance Leeds was the author of The Silver Cup, winner of the International Reading Association’s 2008 Children’s and Young Adult Book Award for Intermediate Fiction. A retired lawyer and the mother of three grown children, she did extensive research for The Unfortunate Son, which took her to North Africa (Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia), where she was lucky enough to sail in a dhow and ride a few camels. On her way home to Boston, Massachusetts, she stopped in Europe to pick olives.

Leeds was preparing for the publication of this book and already doing research for her next novel, when she was diagnosed with extensive, inoperable cancer. She died seven weeks later, surrounded by family, friends, and admirers.