‘She remembers discovering reading (‘what I hankered for most were books about large families of children to whom nothing worrying ever happened’). She loves Shaw’s prefaces, and Thackeray and Dumas, but not Dickens or Hardy, and it still puzzles her that she never took to Trollope: ‘He writes the kind of books I should so much enjoy, if only I did.’
We’ve been having something of a Dodie Smith moment at Slightly Foxed in recent months, what our reissue of Look Back with Love, the recent National Theatre revival of Dear Octopus, and our latest podcast, with special guest: Dodie’s biographer Valerie Grove.
We feel the time has come to retire Dodie to the wings for a little while but, before we do, we thought we’d give her a last bow with this little reminder that Episode 48 of the Slightly Foxed podcast was released on 15 January. If you’ve not yet heard it, you might like to catch up now. And, for anyone who’s already read the book, seen the play, heard the podcast (is there a film?) and is still clamouring for an encore, do scroll on for links to a couple of her lesser-known books, or to read Valerie Grove’s piece on Look Back with Love from Slightly Foxed Issue 32.
We’ll be back next week with a deliciously seasonal extract from A Countryman’s Spring Notebook. Until then, we’ll leave you with dear little Dodie.
With best wishes from the SF staff
Jess, Isabel, Rebecca, Izzy & Jennie