Lucy was born in London and educated in England and the US before reading History at Edinburgh University.   

She was voted one of the ‘top twenty young writers in Britain’ by the Independent on Sunday in 2001 and featured in the ‘Writers’ section of the New Statesman’s “Best of Young British” issue the same year; Boyd Tonkin hailed her rising star in the Independent in 2008.  

In 2003 she was one of the judges of the Biographers Club annual competition for previously un-commissioned biographers; in 2007 she was a judge for the Grierson Documentary Awards.  

Between 2017 and 2019 Lucy was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow, embedded in the School of Advanced Studies at the University of London.  Some of her essays and a long interview with James McConnachie of the Sunday Times about her work can be found on the RLF’s website.

Her television work includes presenting the three-part series ‘History of Prostitution’ (Sky One; produced by World of Wonder in 2006), ‘Nelson’ for Great Britons (BBC2 2002) and ‘Kings in Waiting: Edward VII’ (BBC2 2000) plus numerous talking head appearances including ‘Invitation to a Hanging’, Justin Hardy’s film for Channel 4’s 18th Century season, ‘Queer as 18th Century Folk’ made by Diverse for the same season and Wall 2 Wall’s ‘The South Sea Bubble’ as well as ‘Glamour’s Golden Age’ (BBC4 2013) and ‘Secrets of Selfridges’ (PBS 2015).  

Lucy acted as consultant on Working Title’s feature film Plunkett & Macleane (1999).  In 2004 and 2005 she was a team captain on Radio 4’s ‘Whispers’ quiz programme. 

She lives in Wiltshire with her husband and two teenaged sons. You can find her on Instagram @lucymoorebooks for news about her books.