Greene was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but was raised in the small town
of Parkin, Arkansas, where her parents ran the general store. As a
Jewish girl in a town of Christian fundamentalists, she experienced
discrimination and learned what it was like to be an outsider. Since
her parents spent a lot of time in their store, Greene was raised
mainly by her family's African-American housekeeper, Ruth, who served
as the model for the character of the same name in Summer of My German
Soldier.
Just before Greene entered high school, her family returned to Memphis.
Although she began writing for newspapers during her high school years
and even won first prize in a local essay contest, she received poor
grades in English because of her difficulties with spelling and
punctuation. After graduation, she spent a year studying in Paris,
France, an experiences that would later serve as the background for
Morning Is a Long Time Coming. After a year abroad, she returned to
Memphis and became a reporter for United Press International.
After taking classes at several colleges, Greene enrolled at Columbia
University in New York City, where she focused on writing and
astronomy. After graduation she worked as a part-time journalist and a
public information officer before marrying physician Donald Sumner
Greene and moving with him to Boston; the couple have two grown
children. It was after the birth of daughter Carla that Greene began to
write Summer of My German Soldier. The novel took five years to
complete; after two more years spent searching for a publisher and
eighteen rejections, the book was published by Dial Press in 1973.
