Maggie Joel has had four novels published. The first, The Past and Other Lies, was published to critical acclaim in Australia in 2009 and in the United States in 2013. Her second novel, The Second-Last Woman in England, was published in Australia in 2010, in the United States in 2011 and in the United Kingdom in 2013. This book was awarded the 2011 Fellowship of Australian Writers' Christina Stead Award for Fiction. Maggie's third novel, Half the World in Winter, was published in 2014 and in the United Kingdom in 2015. Her fourth novel, The Safest Place in London, was published in 2016. Maggie lives in Sydney and works as the operations manager at a federal government agency.