Mary Wesley

Chris Willis (London Metropolitan University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 24 Jun 1912
Died 30 Dec 2002
Activity 1983-1994

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Resources

Wesley's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Mary Wesley (Mary Aline Mynars Siepmann) became unexpectedly famous at the age of 70 with the publication of her first adult novel,

Jumping the Queue

(1983), the tragi-comic tale of a woman whose plans for suicide are interrupted by a series of minor mishaps and romantic incidents which became an instant best-seller. Further success followed with

The Camomile Lawn

which recounted the exploits an unconventional upper-class English family and their German Jewish friends during the Second World War.

Set among the English upper classes, Wesley's novels feature unconventional heroines who often shock those around them, and who have active love-lives well into their old age. She once wrote: “People are startled by my books because they think, how can an old woman write about sex? ... The idea

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380 words

Citation: Willis, Chris. "Mary Wesley". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4666, accessed 27 November 2024.]