Imprint
- W&N
- W&N
- W&N
Of specific Gay & Lesbian interest, Of specific Gay interest, Biography: literary, Autobiography: literary, Memoirs, Feminism & feminist theory, Gender studies: women
The superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author - a woman very much ahead of her time.
'She was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal in leading the way' Sandi Toksvig'She was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal in leading the way' Sandi Toksvig
'Some people thought her merely bohemian, but others were grateful to have so engaging a role-model' INDEPENDENT
The superb classic memoir from a dazzlingly eccentric and endlessly fascinating author - a woman very much ahead of her time.
Nancy Spain was one of the most celebrated - and notorious - writers and broadcasters of the 40s, 50s and 60s. Hilarious, controversial and brilliant, she lived openly as a lesbian (sharing a household with her two lovers and their various children) and was frequently litigated against for her newspaper columns - Evelyn Waugh successfully sued her for libel... twice. She was also a fantastic crime novelist (and according to the Guardian, one of the 50 best female crime thriller writers of all time) writing with a unique style that marries the acid wit of Dorothy Parker with the intricacy of plotting worthy of Agatha Christie.
WHY I AM NOT A MILLIONAIRE, has the same wit, style and fascinating detail - first published in 1956, with an introductory note from Noel Coward.
After her death in a plane crash in 1964, Noel Coward commented: 'It is cruel that all that gaiety, intelligence and vitality should be snuffed out, when so many bores and horrors are left living.'
Praise for Why I'm Not A Millionaire: The dazzling memoir of an extraordinary trailblazer
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She was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal in leading the way
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It is cruel that all that gaiety, intelligence and vitality should be snuffed out, when so many bores and horrors are left living
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Some people thought her merely bohemian, but others were grateful to have so engaging a role-model - INDEPENDENT
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Nancy's great qualities were her zest for life and her warm, North-country heart - TATLER
Nancy Spain
Nancy Spain was a novelist, broadcaster and journalist. Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1917, she was the great-niece of the legendary Mrs Beeton. As a columnist for the Daily Express and She magazine, frequent guest on radio's Woman's Hour and panellist on the television programmes What's My Line? and Juke Box Jury, she was one of the most recognisable (and controversial) media personalities of her era. During the Second World War she worked as a driver, and her comic memoir of her time in the WRNS became an immediate bestseller. After the war she began publishing her acclaimed series of detective novels, and would go on to write over twenty books. Spain and her longtime partner, Joan Werner Laurie, were killed when the light aircraft carrying them to the Grand National in 1964 crashed close to the racecourse. Her friend Noel Coward wrote, 'It is cruel that all that gaiety, intelligence and vitality should be snuffed out when so many bores and horrors are left living.'
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