Caroline was born in London, England. Her American parents returned to the United States shortly afterwards and she grew up in California with her teacher father and artist mother. She subsequently studied Classics at Berkeley, where she won a Marshall Scholarship to Cambridge where she studied Classical Art and Archaeology and later took an MA in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London. She then taught Latin, French and art at a small London primary school.

In 2000 she wrote The Thieves of Ostia, the first in a series of children's adventure stories set in Ancient Rome. The Roman Mysteries combine Caroline's love of art history, ancient languages and travel.