Her work from the region has appeared in The Times (London), The Economist, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Prospect magazine, The National (Abu Dhabi) and others. Based in Lebanon, she has reported extensively from Iraq, as well as from Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen, where she was also studying Arabic. Before leaving London, she worked for three years at The Times and contributed articles and editorials to that newspaper as well as to The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Independent and various magazines on current affairs, food and literature among other things. She studied Classics at university and retains a keen interest in the ancient world. Her hobbies include playing Scrabble and baking in hostile and remote places.