So Much To Tell

Valerie Grove writes a weekly column for The Times. As well as that of Laurie Lee, she has written a biography of the children's writer Dodie Smith, entitled Dear Dodie (Chatto, 1996) which was listed as one of the 12 finalists for the NCR Award. She is married to the journalist Trevor Grove, and lives in London. Her latest book is a biography of the author John Mortimer, A Voyage Around John Mortimer (Penguin, 2007).

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.

A Voyage Round John Mortimer

'A perceptive and affectionate biography of a national monument and treasure' Christopher Hart, The Sunday Times

Valerie Grove writes for The Times and the Oldie. She has published two highly acclaimed biographies, of the writers Dodie Smith and Laurie Lee.

Novelist, playwright and barrister John Mortimer has led an extraordinarily rich life, privately and professionally, much of it in the public eye. His own writings, from the play A Voyage Round My Father to the memoirs Clinging to the Wreckage and Murderers and Other Friends, have given his many fans plenty of insights. But now for the first time a biographer has had full access to Mortimer, his circle of friends and colleagues, and their diaries and letters. The result is a riveting account of the life of one of the great figures of our time. A Voyage Round John Mortimer is revealing of many aspects of Mortimer's legal and literary career, from his first attempts at writing novels and the early help he offered his barrister father through to the great triumphs of Rumpole and the Oz trial.

Valerie Grove

I have nothing but praise for this engrossing book, which on the one hand recreates a recent, but forgotten theatrical age, and on the other should introduce Dodie to a host of new readers.

Beautifully written, warm and lively, with enough detachment for us to see Dodie for ourselves-Full of life and zip.

Valerie Grove's vivid biography is a brilliant feat of retrieval - nobody will be glad to finish this book.

Valerie Grove writes about Dodie with wit and discernment. This is a hugely enjoyable book.

A successful portrait of a powerful and original woman of devastating wit and intelligence.

The Life of Dodie Smith

Frank and funny, unorthodox, liberated and quintessentially English, Dodie Smith, playwright and novelist, was the author of those immortal classics, The Hundred and One Dalmations and I Capture the Castle. One of the most successful dramatists of her generation, she spent the war years in America, befriended Christopher Isherwood and, through Walt Disney's film, became a household name.

Dear Dodie

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Valerie Grove

Praise for Dear Dodie

I have nothing but praise for this engrossing book, which on the one hand recreates a recent, but forgotten theatrical age, and on the other should introduce Dodie to a host of new readers.

Beautifully written, warm and lively, with enough detachment for us to see Dodie for ourselves-Full of life and zip.

Valerie Grove's vivid biography is a brilliant feat of retrieval - nobody will be glad to finish this book.

I have nothing but praise for this engrossing book, which on the one hand recreates a recent, but forgotten theatrical age, and on the other should introduce Dodie to a host of new readers.

Beautifully written, warm and lively, with enough detachment for us to see Dodie for ourselves-Full of life and zip.

Valerie Grove's vivid biography is a brilliant feat of retrieval - nobody will be glad to finish this book.

I have nothing but praise for this engrossing book, which on the one hand recreates a recent, but forgotten theatrical age, and on the other should introduce Dodie to a host of new readers.

Beautifully written, warm and lively, with enough detachment for us to see Dodie for ourselves-Full of life and zip.

Valerie Grove's vivid biography is a brilliant feat of retrieval - nobody will be glad to finish this book.

Books by Valerie Grove

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