Julian Patrick Barnes is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with The Sense of an Ending, having been shortlisted three times previously with Flaubert's Parrot, England, England, and Arthur & George. Barnes has also written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh. In addition to novels, Barnes has published collections of essays and short stories.

Northwood is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, North West London, located 14.5 miles (23.3 km) north-west of Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex. The area was situated on the historic Middlesex boundary with Hertfordshire, and since being incorporated into Greater London in 1965, has been on the Greater London boundary with that county.