Frances Pearce studied at the University of Sydney (BA Hons) and the Australian National University (MA with First Class Honours). It was in Canberra that she she met her NZ husband. They lived for some time in England and France.
She moved to Adelaide in 1968 and lectured in English at the University of Adelaide. She has had an orchard at Montacute in the Adelaide Hills since 1970.
She and Helen Granger write jointly under the pseudonym "Helen Frances".
