Helen Constantine taught languages in schools until 2000, when she became a full-time translator. She has published three volumes of translated stories, Paris Tales, Paris Metro Tales, and French Tales. She is general editor of City Tales for Oxford University Press. Her translations include Mademoiselle de Maupin by Théophile Gautier and Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos for Penguin, The Wild Ass's Skin by Balzac, The Conquest of Plassans by Zola, and Flaubert's A Sentimental Education for OUP.