Marina Fiorato

Marina Fiorato is an English author, designer, actress and film producer.

Born in Manchester, with a Venetian father, Fiorato was raised in Langcliffe, North Yorkshire, and studied history at Durham University and at the Master's level at the University of Warwick, where she specialised in the study of Shakespeare. After her time at university, she studied art and worked for a period as an illustrator and film reviewer. She co-produced and starred in the award-winning short film Devilwood (2006), and also appeared in The Wrong Blonde, An Ideal Husband (both 1999), Maybe Baby (2000) and Tuesday (2008). She also designed tour visuals for bands such as U2 and the Rolling Stones and for films including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Fiorato wrote her first novel, The Glassblower of Murano (2008), in bookshop coffee shops so that she could research the Venetian setting. It was rejected by numerous publishers before being accepted by Beautiful Books Ltd., but was internationally successful, and two years later she earned a large advance for The Botticelli Secret (2010).

Marriage and children

Fiorato is married to filmmaker Sacha Bennett.