Voyage Round John Mortimer

Biographies & Memoirs

VALERIE GROVE

Arts & Literature

Penguin??Books

<p>Despite his autobigraphical writings, despite his gregarious appearances on the London literary scene and in the village pub where he was always available to fans, Laurie Lee was a secretive man. Millions of readers feel they know him from the lyrical account of his Gloucestershire boyhood, immortalized in "Cider with Rosie". They also know that he walked out one midsummer morning in 1934 and wandered through Spain, playing the fiddle before being caught up in the Spanish Civil War. When he returned home, he spent almost the rest of his life writing about these youthful adventures. He was a poet, a playwright and a broadcaster, his books became classics, and he was devoted to two women: his wife and his daughter, "the firstborn". Publicly, he fostered the Laurie Lee legend. But behind his locked study door, in the letters and diaries he left, lay the revealing clues to his private pain and passion: the girls he left behind, the woman who took him to Spain, the woman he came back to...and the others who nurtured, protected and loved him all his crowded, fulfilled but often tormented life. Eventually, when nearly eighty, he published a vivid and moving account of his Spanish Civil War experiences which, after his death, were questioned by fellow veterans. A fierce debate ensued in the national press about Lee's role in the war. Here for the first time, from his private correspondence, are the facts about that time and other hitherto unknown elements in the Laurie Lee story - which are even more fascinating than the legends he fostered.</p>

Laurie Lee: The well-loved stranger

Viking Adult

<p>Dear Dodie: The Life of Dodie Smith</p>

DEAR DODIE

Literature & Fiction

Dramas & Plays

Chatto and Windus

Dear Dodie: The Life of Dodie Smith

Pimlico

Dear Dodie

Kaye Webb, a journalist with no publishing experience, burst into the world of children's books in 1961 and changed the face of children's publishing forever. Her child-like enthusiasm and shrewd business mind led her to become Puffin's most successful editor and the genius behind the Puffin Club, which opened up the exciting world of authors and books to children across Britain. But whilst Kaye's professional life had worked out beautifully, her private life had been the reverse. Kaye had two husbands before her marriage to the artist Ronald Searle, and the torment of his sudden and shocking departure never left her. Yet to the outside world Kaye Webb remained passionate and unstoppable. This is the unknown story of the woman who brought the joy of books to children everywhere whilst battling the emotional pain that plagued her private life.

So Much To Tell

Reference

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

VIKING

Laurie Lee: The Well Loved Stranger (Laurie Lee Memorial Lectures)

Cyder Press

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