Nancy Spain, the best-known and most successful all-media woman of her time, died in a civilian plane crash on Grand National Day in 1964, together with her longtime partner, Joan ‘Jonny’ Werner Laurie, editor and co-founder of She magazine.
The pioneering lesbian magazine, Arena Three, reflected, ‘Nancy Spain was not the first British lesbian to make front-page news: she was indisputably the wildest, wittiest and warmest of heart’.
It was those very qualities which helped propel Nancy Spain to the forefront of popular newspapers, magazines, books, radio and television, from the 1940s until the day she died: from Good Housekeeping to the News of the World; from Woman’s Hour to My Word and What’s My Line? to Juke Box Jury; and, of course, her famously camp crime novels, such as Poison for Teacher and Cinderella Goes to the Morgue.
She was the ultimate ‘bachelor’ or ‘career’ woman, blessed with the common touch, who spoke openly of her love for her female partner and their children, while simultaneously and deftly avoiding affronting the less liberal sensibilities of the times and guarding her biggest secrets.
This fascinating biography reconstructs the life and career of one of Britain’s most extraordinary post-war female characters, who utilized her energy, charisma, talent and determination in both her starry career and her complex, audacious personal life to such astonishing effect. It draws on a rich diversity of letters, archive material, published and unpublished writings, together with personal testimony from friends, family, former colleagues and schoolfriends, including Denis Norden, Sandy Wilson, Alan Freeman, David Jacobs and Michael Foot, most of whom have never spoken publicly about her before. It also includes previously unpublished photographs and a foreword by one of Nancy’s closest friends, best-selling novelist and creator of Coronation Street, Tony Warren.