Fun Facts Friday: P.D. James

August 3, 2012

English crime/mystery author P.D. James (3 August, 1920) had a long and prosperous career. Her life, however, were full of challenges which she amazingly overcame.

P. D. James

1 ) James’ full title is Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE (Order of the British Empire), FRSA (Royal Society of Arts), FRSL (Royal Society of Literature).

2 ) James always wanted to write a novel, but when her husband, an Army doctor, came back from WWII with psychological scars she had to put her life on hold.

3 ) Becoming the bread winner for her family, James worked full time, raised a family and took night classes. On the weekends she visited her husband in psychological institutions.

4 ) At some point, the author realized that there will never be a good time to write a book. Her first book, Cover Her Face (published in 1962) was planned during her commute and written during the little spare time she had.

5 ) When the book was published, one reviewer said that “the author is planning a lengthy career in the business”.

6 ) The novel’s protagonist, Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, was named after James’ high school English teacher.

7 ) James’ father did not believe in higher education for girls, hence she left school at age 16 to work in a tax office.

8 ) Many of James’ novels are set against UK’s governmental bureaucracies, a subject the author knows well since she worked in the system for decades.

9 ) Mrs. James is a Lay Patron of the Prayer Book Society and her 2001 novel, Death in Holy Orders, shows her knowledge of the workings of the church.

10) In 2008 P.D. James was inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame.

Zohar – Man of la Book

--- Please like and follow ManOfLaBook.com ---

2 Comments

  • Alex BaughAugust 3, 2012 at 9:49 am

    These are such intersting about her, PD James is one of my favorite mystery writers of all time.

  • Sharon HenningAugust 3, 2012 at 10:58 pm

    Wow. I didn’t know PD James was a woman. (Go ahead and laugh.) Because of your review, I’m going to read her novels.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

− 1 = 1

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial
RSS
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Post on X
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon