Jeanette Winterson is one of the most admired and discussed of her generation of British novelists. Her first novel achieved remarkable success and, although her succeeding ones have often been more controversial—she is capable, whether intentionally or not, of polarizing readers and reviewers in a way unlike any of her contemporaries—she has continued to be a major force in recent British writing. Some consider her to be a feminist icon; she is also the most visible lesbian writer in mainstream British culture.

Born on 27 August 1959, Jeanette Winterson was raised in Lancashire by John Winterson and Constance Brownrigg, who adopted her in infancy. She does not know the identity of her natural mother and father and has never sought them out. The life of a typical Pentecostal evangelist working-class family—her father was a factory worker—is explored in Winterson's first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only...