Ben Faccini was born in England and brought up in rural France and Italy. He worked for many years at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Paris. He is the author of two books, The Water-Breather (Flamingo 2002) and The Incomplete Husband (Portobello 2007). As well as novels, he has written extensively on issues in the developing world, particularly on the subject of street and working children and innovations in education.