Celia Dale

Celia Dale (15 January 1912^[1] – 31 December 2011), was an English author and book reviewer.

Family

Both Celia Dale's parents were actors – her father was the noted stage and television actor James Dale (1887–1985), her mother Marguerite Adamson.^[2] She was a cousin of the novelist Sarah Harrison.^[3] She was married to the journalist and critic Guy Ramsey, until his death in 1959.^[4]

Work

Celia Dale's first novel, The Least Of These, was published in 1943 and she went on to write twelve more and a volume of short stories. Her later novels were psychological thrillers.^[4] She won several awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Best Short Story of the Year award for Lines of Communication and A Personal Call and other stories in 1986.^[5] She also worked as a secretary to the author Rumer Godden.^[6] Four of her novels were reissued as Faber Finds in 2008.^[7]

Adaptations

Dale's sixth novel, A Spring of Love, was televised as a four-part drama, Love Story: Mr Right, which aired on BBC One in 1983.^[8]

Celia Dale died on 31 December 2011, at age 99.^[9]

Bibliography

• The Least of These (1944)
• To Hold the Mirror (1946)
• The Dry Land (1952)
• The Wooden O (1953)
• Trial of Strength (1955)
• A Spring of Love (1960)
• Other People (1964)
• A Helping Hand (1966)
• Act of Love (1969)
• A Dark Corner (1971)
• The Innocent Party (1973)
• Helping with Enquiries (1979, aka The Deception)
• Sheep's Clothing (1988)