I originally read all the Margery Allingham books in my teens and twenties and have reread them at intervals since then. I know, however, very little about the author except that that her husband, Philip Youngman Carter, had finished the book she was writing when she died and had written 2 others. This biography really fleshes out (literally!) my picture of Margery and reveals an immense amount about her life and the eras through which she lived.Margery Allingham is one of the Golden Age Queens of Crime with Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and Ngiao Marsh. Appreciation of her life illuminates her books further for the discerning reader and her biographer, Julia Jones, has a masterly understanding achieved through her long immersion in Margery’s works and interviews with her friends; recently she has added to these her study of a unique archive of papers bequeathed to her by Margery’s sister Joyce.
Margery was born in 1904 so she could remember something of the First World War on the Home Front, she then enjoyed the carefree 1920s and 1930s until the shadow of war became the reality of the Second World War. One interesting and unusual book by Margery was non fiction, The Oaken Heart, published in 1941,in which she articulated the feelings of the civilian population of Essex at a point when invasion of Britain was expected and the outcome of the war was extremely uncertain. Her development as a writer of crime fiction is fascinating since she changed her style several times during her writing career and, after the Second World War, she seems much more aware of modern issues than her Golden Age contemporaries.
Margery suffered from ill-diagnosed health issues throughout her life and the stories of her struggling to support her household while experiencing physical illnesses and psychological problems acutely arouses one’s sympathy. She is revealed as a gallant figure who could be the life and soul of any party but also wanted to retreat to her study to write her books. Her relationships illustrate her sociability but a residual shyness could blight her ability to function outside her homes. Her relationship with her husband particularly shows strains.
I felt that this biography expanded my knowledge of Margery Allingham as a person and deepened my ability to enjoy her books.
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Jennifer S. Palmer
Julia Thorogood published a biography of Margery in 1991 and here she produces a revised version including much new material with a new title