Berna was born in Chile, grew up in Australia, then returned to Chile for her teenage years before moving to Spain. She moved to England in 1999 and stayed. Daughter of a true nomad, she’s proved to be less so in practice but very much so in her mind.

Berna’s first job was as a money collector from butchers in Spanish markets while she was in law school. Side payments in steak kept her alive when funds were short. Her next experience was working for the legal department of a Drug Rehab centre, far less dangerous than the first job. The third was in aircraft financing, which gave her way too much information about aeroplanes, which she has actively tried to forget. The fourth and last in the legal world was in shipping, where she gave her whole salary over to childcare and realised it wasn’t worth it so packed up the files.

Berna is the author of the Hand of Reason series, which came about by accident. She started writing a short story about a girl called Maia which turned into the story of her father and went on from there. It was a long time later that she realised that it was a story that tried to make sense of her youth, looking at the insidiousness of totalitarianism from all sides.

Berna lives in London with her husband and her Great Dane, Echo. Her children come and go, but never too far.

The Hand of Reason series comprises five books set in the fictional world of Eria, which Berna has been working on for a decade. They will be published between 2026 and 2027.

Touched by Light

Rule of Reason

Shadow of the Hand

Rise of the Five

Dawn of the Light