Simone Schell

Simone Schell is the pen name of Simone Bodine Mathilde den Heeten, born in Leiden, The Netherlands, to a large family. After leaving high school at age 16, she spent a few years abroad, working as an au pair in England and France. Back in the Netherlands, she took courses in various fields, including nursing, acting, and teaching. In 1965, she married Charles Schell, a physicist, with whom she had three children. She made her literary debut in 1973 with the children's book Miss Jonathan. From 1980, she published a series of fairy stories in which fantasy and dreams predominate. She has also written fiction for adults.