Raised by a single mother in Cambridge, Effie grew up knowing precious little about her father and telling herself she wouldn't have liked him anyway. She was named after her Scottish grandmother, Oighrig - although her mother had the sense to use a slightly easier to spell version of that name and her middle name came from a character in Emily's favorite book, Wuthering Heights. She led a relatively happy, albeit quiet childhood with just her mother, and one or two of her boyfriends, although each time the relationships failed before coming to any proper fruition. Apart from those momentary distractions, it seemed that the only disturbances in her life were coming from herself.