Anke Heyen was born in Leverkusen in 1972 and grew up in the fruit village of Imbach, where the novel is set in part. Before she became a teacher of French and philosophy, she worked as a freelancer for a Bonn daily newspaper. She wrote her doctoral thesis on old French apple varieties. She has been a teacher for more than ten years and lives in Cologne. 

Since April 2017 she has been studying art. This novel was written as part of her bachelor thesis.