E. Ruth Smith was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, brought up in Five Islands, the home of most of her ancestors, and today resides in Parrsboro. She worked as a medical laboratory technologist for more than forty years. She now helps seniors in various ways, primarily as a part-time caregiver, but spends her spare time digging both literally and figuratively: she is a passionate gardener and genealogy researcher. From Nova Scotia to North Africa is her first book.