Mari Hilburn, an attorney, and Michelle Poche, a screenwriter and journalist, are sisters who write novels under their joint pseudonym, Claire Avery.
They grew up in Chicago in a cult that combined Catholic fundamentalism with socialism and plenty of guilt. When the sisters were in their teens, their father, fearing that the end was near, moved along with twenty-five other families to the Ozark Mountains. There, they lived in a bomb shelter and attempted to raise chickens and grow enough food to survive the coming nuclear holocaust.
Moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area after high school graduation, the sisters earned degrees in Psychology and Journalism. Michelle moved to New York and Europe to work as a fashion model, while Mari pursued a career as an attorney in private practice. Now full- time novelists, Mari lives near Chicago while Michelle lives in Aspen, Colorado. They are the authors of Hidden Wives.
