was born in Amsterdam in 1954. She pursued a career in journalism and was editor of the feminist magazine Opzij for many years. Dorrestein made her debut as an author in 1983 with the novel Buitenstaanders (Outsiders). Since then she has published eightteen novels, as well as several works of non-fiction. In 1986-1987 she was writer-in-residence at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (USA) and in 2001 at the Sorbonne in Paris. One of today’s top-selling Dutch authors, Dorrestein has also won great international acclaim for her novels Verborgen gebreken, 1996 (A crying shame, filmed as Hidden flaws in 2004) Een hart van steen (A heart of stone, 1997) and Zonder Genade (Without Mercy, 2001). Her work has been translated into fifteen languages. Her latest novel Echt Sexyx was published in 2007. Renate Dorrestein lives and works in Aerdenhout.