Over one hundred years ago, Tessa Bridal's ancestors settled in Uruguay. They had come from Ireland and soon established themselves in the city of Montevideo. It was in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, that Bridal was born and raised.

During her youth, Bridal witnessed the turmoil that occurred in her homeland during the 1960s and 1970s, when Uruguay suffered economic losses and turmoil in the labor sector. The government, which had formerly been very successful in supporting its Uruguayan population, became increasingly corrupt and slid into a form of dictatorship, which set the scene for the creation of the Tupamaros, an urban guerilla movement. All these elements strongly affected Bridal and play a very significant role in her first novel, The Tree of Red Stars.

Bridal eventually left Uruguay. She has since lived in Brazil, Washington, D.C., and in London. For the past twenty...