Monica

Charles Dickens' great-granddaughter Monica Dickens was the author of twenty-five novels and many classics for children, and one of the most popular writers of her day. Born into the upper classes, as a bored and unhappy debutante in the 1930s she took the incredible step of going into domestic service and then writing a book about it. 'One Pair of Hands, ' published in 1939, sold in the millions and has never been out of print. Her subsequent works, calling on her rich experience as a wartime nurse, Spitfire factory worker, GI bride and more, sold in similar numbers but are now largely forgotten.

Often dismissed as a 'light' writer, and her widespread appeal deflecting serious recognition, Monica Dickens was nevertheless highly praised by some of the most respected authors of the twentieth century, and indeed beyond. Far from writing lightly, in her middle period she addressed issues such as child abuse, suicide, and inner-city deprivation. Her novels, always threaded with humour, were immensely understanding of human frailties, but at the same time urged resilience and responsibility for one's fellow man. These were qualities that Monica herself possessed in plenty. After becoming a volunteer for the Samaritans in England, this deeply compassionate woman went on to found the first branch of the organisation in America and hence to save countless lives. Her name is engraved on a marker near the soaring bridges over the Cape Cod Canal, where she campaigned for the erection of higher barriers to stop desperate people jumping to their deaths.

In her early sixties Monica produced an account of the experiences in her life which had influenced her writing, her 1978 memoir 'An Open Book'. 'This is not the whole story of a life, ' begins the first chapter, and in truth much was omitted or by her own admission confused with the semi-autobiographical works she had written as a young woman. 'An Open Book' is a valuable starting-point but this first biography seeks to fill the gaps and to tell the story of her later years, with the help of contemporary accounts, family histories, interviews with close friends, articles and private correspondence, and not least Monica's major works and their critical reception.

All her writing life Monica was compared to Charles Dickens, not always favourably. And yet the similarities between them are there: eccentric characters, humorous observation of the English scene, social conscience, an optimistic and moral view of life - but above all, talent for the written word.