Joan Grant

Joan Grant was born in London, England, the daughter of a society psychic. She claimed to have written her first book, Winged Pharaoh, while hypnotized and recalling the plot as it happened to her in a past life. It was published in 1937, and was a popular success. She wrote several other historical books, which she called "Far Memory books" or "previous life autobiographies", using the same method. She also wrote several children's books, based on stories she said she had been told in her past lives.

Her third husband, Denys Kelsey, was a psychiatrist who used hypnotherapy in his practice. When he read Grant's books, he wanted to meet her, and the two were later married. In the 1960s they moved to rural France and opened a practice together, where people from across Europe would stay for therapy. They also co-wrote Many Lifetimes, in which Grant explained how she could remember both her own and others' past lives.