Laurie Lee was a towering figure in twentieth century British literature, seeming to bridge a gap between the Victorian and the post-war experience; the pastoral and the urbane. Millions of readers read and loved the lyrical account of his Gloucestershire boyhood, immortalised in Cider with Rosie. They also thrilled to the travels of the young Lee through Spain, playing the fiddle before being caught up in the Spanish Civil War. When he returned home, he spent almost the rest of his life writing about these youthful adventures. He was a poet, a playwright and a broadcaster, his books became classics, and he was devoted to two women: his wife and his daughter, "the firstborn". Publicly, he fostered the Laurie Lee legend. But behind his locked study door, in the letters and diaries he left, lay the revealing clues to his private pain and passion.

Author Biography

Valerie Grove is a journalist and biographer. She has written interviews and features mainly for the Sunday Times, The Times and the Evening Standard for more than 40 years; and biographies of Dodie Smith, Sir John Mortimer and Kaye Webb. She has four grown-up children and lives in London.