Ann Bennett

Ann Bennett writes historical fiction mainly set during the Second World War. Her first book, Bamboo Heart: A Daughter's Quest, was inspired by researching her father's experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway and by her own journey to uncover his story. It won the Asian Books Blog prize for fiction published in Asia in 2015 and was shortlisted for the best fiction title in the Singapore Book Awards 2016.

That initial inspiration led her to write more books about WWII in Southeast Asia - Bamboo Island: The Planter's Wife, A Daughter's Promise, Bamboo Road: The Homecoming, The Tea Planter's Club, The Amulet and The Lotus House, make up the Echoes of Empire Collection. These were followed by two books set in Nepal, The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu and The Bookseller of Kathmandu (published September 2025) make up the Tales of Kathmandu. A further book in this series is planned for early 2027.

Ann is also the author of The Oriental Lake Collection - The Lake Pavilion and The Lake Palace, both set in British India during the 1930s and WWII, and The Lake Pagoda and The Lake Villa, set in French Indochina.

The Runaway Sisters, USA Today bestselling The Orphan House, The Child Without a Home and The Forgotten Children are set in Europe during the same era. Those books are published by Bookouture along with The Orphan List and The Stolen Sisters, a two-book series focusing on the Lebensborn programme in Nazi Germany. Her latest book, Once We Were Sisters, a standalone story set in France during WW2 was published by Bookouture in January 2026.

Her latest book, Mandarin Road, set in Vietnam during the Vietnam war was published in June 2026.

Ann is married with three grown up sons and a granddaughter and lives in Surrey, UK. For updates about releases or exclusive content, please click the follow button on this page.