大象传媒

She lived and wrote in Berkshire and spent a large part of her life near Basingstoke.

"One of the reasons we don't know much about her is that her sister destroyed the majority of her letters..my own feeling is that there are family secrets in there.

"I think she was a very acute observer, I think she had a great sense of humour.

"She saw her sisters-in-law die in child birth, she saw a tough part of life. I think she thought about marriage, but I think she got nervous about the idea of producing children, and if she had we wouldn't have the books."