Mary Martin DevlinA former professor of English and creative writing at Mount Holyoke College, Mary Martin Devlin has also always had a passion for French literature and culture. When a colleague introduced her to the unpublished memoir of an eighteenth-century French countess, she plunged into translating the young womans account of the capricious fortunes of life at the royal court, which eventually inspired Precious Pawn. Mary Martin Devlin taught as a Fulbright professor in France and Tunisia and has translated and collaborated on books regarding the African AIDS epidemic and the politics of the Congo. Her story "The Resting Wall" was short-listed for the O. Henry Prize in 2003. She now divides her time between Atlanta, Georgia, and the south of France. Read More Read Less