Amy Bloom, born in 1953 in New York City, was forty years old when her first book was published. Come to Me (1993) is a collection of short stories, a form for which Bloom was, at that time, well known. She had published her short stories in such prestigious publications as The New Yorker. Come to Me became a runner-up for the coveted National Book Award.

Bloom, though a gifted author, was not trained in writing. She graduated from Smith College with a master’s degree in social work. Besides her writing career, Bloom works as a psychotherapist.

Bloom published her first novel, Love Inverts Us, in 1998. Once again, her work earned her a finalist standing for the National Book Award. This novel tells the coming-of-age story of a young girl evolving into womanhood as she searches for love. Bloom’s second collection of short stories, A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (2001), received great critical attention and was nominated for the National Book Critic’s Circle Award for fiction. Many of Bloom’s stories have also been published both in the O. Henry Prize Story and Best American Short Stories collections, which indicates the caliber of her writing skills.

In 2002, Bloom broke away from fiction to write Normal, a book about sex and gender issues, relying on the author’s experience in psychotherapy. Through intimate real-life stories, Bloom points out the varieties of sexual identities, none of which, she found, could only be defined in black-and-white textbook terms. The general comment from reviewers was that Bloom takes the stories she has heard and weaves them through with her own theories, using the same writing skills and insights she has shown in her fiction.

Bloom published her second novel, Away, in 2007. This is a story of a young Russian immigrant who makes her way across the continental United States then up to Alaska in an attempt to find her daughter. Critics use words such as "magnificent odyssey" and "thrilling road trip" to describe this novel. In 2007, Bloom also wrote a script for television, called State of Mind, which aired on Lifetime.

Bloom was married and then divorced. In 2007, she married again, this time to Brian Ameche, an architect. The couple lives in Connecticut. Bloom has taught creative writing at various colleges, including Yale University and Brooklyn College.