Petra Morsbach, born in 1956, studied in Munich and St. Petersburg. After writing her PhD thesis on Isaak Babel, she spent ten years working as a drama-turge and stage director and since 1993 has been freelancing as a writer. She has written several highly acclaimed novels, including Opera Novel, and has won numerous awards. In 2017 she received the Wilhelm Raabe Prize for her Palace of Justice, for which she spent nine years doing research.