Monika Killeen was born in 1976 in a small town in Slovakia. She left in 1995 to see the world beyond her country's borders. Discovering life as a young woman in London, she learned English while working as an au-pair. After twenty-six years in the UK and careers in law and psychotherapy, she migrated once again. She now lives on Waiheke Island off the north coast of New Zealand, with her husband, two children, and Rosie, the best dog in the world. An Inflammable Act of Kindness is her first novel.