Tess Uriza Holthe is a Filipino-American writer who was born and raised in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco and is best known for her nationally bestselling novel When the Elephants Dance.^[1]

Holthe graduated from Golden Gate University in 1996 with a degree in accounting.^[2][3] While working full-time as an accountant, she began writing her first novel When the Elephants Dance during lunch breaks, evenings, and weekends.^[2][3]

When the Elephants Dance is inspired in part by her father's experiences growing up in the Philippines during World War II.^[2][3][4]

• The Five-Forty-Five To Cannes was published in 2007 and cited as an American Library Association Notable Book, as well as named a 2007 notable book by the San Francisco Chronicle.^[1]
• When the Elephants Dance was published in 2002 and won the National Best-seller award, crowned the #1 Bestseller by the San Francisco Chronicle, Book Sense Top Ten, Ingram Premier Pick, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Borders' Original Voices Selection. The novel explores the retelling of supernatural tales based on indigenous Filipino mythology and Spanish-influenced novels, told from the perspective of a family hiding in a cellar during the last weeks of the Japanese occupation in the Philippines.^[1][2][5]