Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lumley was born in Kashmir in 1946 and came to England as a young girl to complete her schooling at St Mary's School in Sussex. She spent three years as a photographic model finally becoming a house model for the late Jean Muir. She is probably best known for her portrayals on television of Purdey in The Avengers and Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous. She is the author the autobiography STARE BACK AND SMILE; FORCES SWEETHEARTS, an anthology of love letters in wartime; GIRL FRIDAY, in which she described how she fended for herself on a desert island; and IN THE KINGDOM OF THE THUNDER DRAGON, an account of a journey through the Kingdom of Bhutan the latter two both based on BBC films.

Her memoir, NO ROOM FOR SECRETS, was published in 2004.

Joanna Lumley describes this unusual new memoir as the book she has secretly been longing to write. And now she has decided that the time has come to reveal the many aspects of her rich and varied life that she has never talked about publicly before: people, memories, journeys, ideas, regrets, beliefs, life as a model in the 1960s, friendship with Dirk Bogarde, success, failure and survival.

Joanna has given the book a fascinating framework: her house. She shows the reader into every room, from front door to attic window, answering questions which arise along the way: Why are you photographed with the Dalai Lama? Is this the teddy bear you had on your bed at school? Did you draw this picture of your son? Why did you make these pathetic curtains? Who are you? Do you lie to the press?

Lavishly illustrated, the book is by turns funny, revealing and poignant and provides an illuminating insight into the life of one of this country’s best-loved icons.