Mary Margaret Kaye, known as M.M. Kaye, was a bestselling British author, born in India on August 21st, 1908. Her father, Sir Cecil Kaye, was an intelligence officer in the Indian Army, and after he passed away, Kaye was sent to England for her education at the age of 10. She studied children's book illustration and earned money by designing Christmas cards. Kaye returned to India in 1926 to live with her family, but after her mother's pressure to marry a junior officer in the military, she decided to go back to England.
Kaye's family had strong ties with India, as her grandfather, father, brother, and husband all served the British Raj. After India's independence, her husband, Major-General Goff Hamilton of Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides, joined the British Army, and Kaye followed him to various countries for the next nineteen years, including Kenya, Zanzibar, Egypt, Cyprus, and Germany. Kaye gained worldwide fame for her novel "The Far Pavilions," which became a best-seller on publication in 1978. She also wrote and illustrated a children's book called "The Ordinary Princess" and authored a dozen detective novels, including "Death in Kashmir" and "Death in Zanzibar." Kaye's autobiography has been published in three volumes, collectively entitled "Share of Summer: The Sun in the Morning, Golden Afternoon, and Enchanted Evening." In March 2003, M.M. Kaye was awarded the Colonel James Tod International Award by the Maharana Mewar Foundation of Udaipur, Rajasthan, for her "contribution of permanent value reflecting the spirit and values of Mewar."