Helen Elaine Lee grew up in Detroit, Michigan and she is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.  Her first novel, The Serpent's Gift, was published by Atheneum and her second novel, Water Marked, was published by Scribner. Helen was on the board of PEN New England for 10 years, and she served on its Freedom to Write Committee and volunteered with its Prison Creative Writing Program, which she helped to start.  She is Professor of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at MIT.