Anya Seton was an American author who wrote historical fiction novels, most notably 'Dragonwyck' and 'Katherine'. She was born in New York City in 1904 and was the daughter of two well-known authors, Ernest Thompson Seton and Grace Gallatin Seton. Her novel 'AVALON' was published in 1948 and is considered to be her best work. It tells the story of a family living on the fictional AVALON Island off the coast of Massachusetts during the early 20th century.