Helen DeWitt

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Helen DeWitt (born 1957 in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.) is a novelist.

DeWitt grew up primarily in South America, as her parents worked in the United States diplomatic service. After two short periods at Smith College DeWitt studied classics at the University of Oxford, first at Lady Margaret Hall, and then at Brasenose College for her D.Phil.

DeWitt is best known for her acclaimed first novel, The Last Samurai. In 2005 she collaborated with Ingrid Kerma, the London-based painter, writing "limit5" for the exhibition "Blushing Brides".

In 2004, DeWitt went missing from her home in Staten Island home after sending a suicidal e-mail to family and friends. [1] She was found unharmed a few days later at Niagara Falls.[2]

DeWitt now lives in Berlin.