Kara Gnodde grew up in Johannesburg on a diet of Dr Seuss and no TV. After graduating from the University of Cape Town, she joined Saatchis in London. She has lived in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, and is settled back in the UK, where she lives with her husband and three children. Hearing a discussion on the radio about a maths problem that could change the world gave her a place to start The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything, her debut novel.

Life is like a maths equation . . . It’s complicated. It’s universal. And (most of the time) it’s utterly baffling.