Born in the U.S, Tracy Chevalier is a bestselling historical novelist. She has written seven books the most famous of which, Girl with a Pearl Earring (2006), has sold over 3 million copies worldwide and was adapted into a film starring Colin Firth and Scarlet Johansson. Her latest work, The Last Runaway (2013), is about slavery in the U.S and the famous Underground Railroad. She talks to Gavin Esler about why hands-on research is vital to her as a writer. Why does she want to bring the past to life? Show less