Patricia Ferguson

Somerset Maugham prize - winner Patricia Ferguson trained as a nurse and midwife at the Royal London Hospital, and worked in various countries whilst writing her first novel, the triple - prize - winning Family Myths and Legends. Many of her short stories have been broadcast on Radio Four and the title story of her collection Indefinite Nights, which is largely about nursing, is included in the Penguin Book of Modern Women's Short Stories (ed Susan Hill).