Even though we publish two of her (many) novels, Monica Dickens (1915-1992) is possibly still best known for her non-fiction: after drama school she was a debutante before working as a cook; One Pair of Hands (1939), her first book, described life in the kitchens of Kensington. Her first novel, PB No. 2 Mariana (1940), is a coming-of-age novel set in West London: full of charm and laughs, it is a firm Persephone favourite. PB No. 90, The Winds of Heaven, is about a widow and her three (all vaguely terrible) daughters. Here is Monica Dickens as a nurse at the hospital in Windsor she worked at during the Second World War (which became the inspiration for One Pair of Feet, 1942).