About the Author

Leslie Ann was born in the United States, raised in North Carolina and educated at the University of Arizona with an emphasis on Eastern European and Asian history. An opportunity for postgraduate studies within the former Soviet Union provided an insightful and extensive look into a country few, at that time, had experienced in depth.

She traveled throughout Europe for several years before enjoying residences in New Orleans, Chicago and San Francisco. Once again uprooted by a desire to venture forth, she embarked on a lengthy sabbatical traveling from London to Nepal in a retired Welsh school bus. This experience only confirmed to her that the key to personal growth and survival lay in the exploration of the unknown.

Working as a tutor for the Saudi Royal Family in Riyadh provided another profound life changing experience, one full of fond memories, deep friendships and intriguing stories. Moving from one desert to another, Palm Springs, California became home for several years providing a base from which to travel into deepest Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and Australasia.

Eventually moving to England Leslie Ann took up residence in London and proudly accepted dual nationality. She has worked as an editor for a private London publication and is now a contributing writer for several magazines. She knows how to pitch humorous quips and accurate observations about her environs and infuses her stories with anecdotes distilled over the years.

In a serendipitous move in 2002 Leslie Ann left the paving stones of London for the green pastures of the English countryside, an area no less strange than many of the countries she had visited. This account of her latest escapade, To the MANOR drawn, is a humorous guide to understanding the complexities and oddities of two countries inextricably bound together by language, law, customs, values and history.