She has played bridge in many national and international competitions and represented England in home international competition for the Lady Milne Trophy.[2] That is the annual tournament for women teams, parallel in structure to the Camrose Trophy competition for open teams.
The daughter of literary critic and writer John Gross and literary editor Miriam Gross, and the granddaughter of humanitarian Kurt May, she is married to the novelist and critic John Preston.[1][3] Her brother Tom Gross is a journalist and international affairs commentator, specialising in the Middle East.[4]
Since her mother's remarriage, Gross is the stepdaughter of Sir Geoffrey Owen.[3]