Veronika Peters, born in 1966, spent her childhood in Germany and Africa, where her father was a teacher. When she was fifteen, she left home, became trained as an educator and worked in a psychiatric home for youth. She entered a convent in 1987. After nearly 12 years she left the order and moved to Berlin, where she worked on her photography and writing. Her first book, What Fits in Two Suitcases, was a bestseller and has been translated into numerous languages.