Valerie Jean Knowles was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. She obtained a B.A. (Honours, history) from Smith College, Northampton, Mass, and an M.A. (history) from McGill University before embarking on a career as a history instructor, archivist, and writer. She moved to Ottawa in 1961 after her marriage, and lurched into freelance writing in 1964 after earning a BJ from Carleton University.