Sibford to sponsor talk by Quaker actress and author

Published by Sibford School on Wednesday 11th of February 2015

Sibford School has given its backing to Chipping Norton Literary Festival 2015.

The Quaker School in Oxfordshire is to sponsor an appearance by actress and author Sheila Hancock who will be speaking about her debut novel, Miss Carter's War.

Sibford head Michael Goodwin said: 'We were delighted to discover that Sheila Hancock was one of the authors appearing at Chip Lit Fest.

'Sheila is a member of the Society of Friends and so, as a Quaker school, her talk was the perfect event for us sponsor.'

Sheila Hancock will be appearing at Chipping Norton Theatre on Saturday 25 April between 4pm and 5pm. Tickets cost £12 each � or £11 if purchased before Sunday 15 February. To book tickets click here.

Sheila Hancock has enjoyed a remarkable acting career since the 1950s. She was born in 1933 on the Isle of Wight, studied drama at RADA and made her first TV appearance on The Rag Trade in the early 1960s. Her extensive theatre work includes stints at the National Theatre and with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She is currently an Associate Member of RADA. Sheila won her first Laurence Olivier Award for her role in Cabaret aged 73. She was awarded an OBE in 1974 and a CBE in 2011.

Sheila was married to John Thaw until his death from cancer in 2002. Her 2004 book, The Two of Us is a dual biography, which gives accounts of both their lives, as well as focusing on their 28-year marriage. This was followed by the 2008 book, Just Me, an account of coming to terms with widowhood.

In October 2014, inspired by seeing an elderly woman being repeatedly ignored in a shop, Sheila published her debut novel, Miss Carter's War, about life in a fast changing post-war Britain. The novel is a Richard and Judy Book Club title for Spring 2015.

About Miss Carter's War: It is 1948 and Britain is struggling to recover from the Second World War. Half French, half English, Marguerite Carter, young and beautiful, has lost her parents and survived a terrifying war, working for the SOE behind enemy lines. Leaving her partisan lover she returns to England to be one of the first women to receive a degree from the University of Cambridge. Now she pins back her unruly auburn curls, draws a pencil seam up her legs, ties the laces on her sensible black shoes, belts her grey gabardine mac and sets out towards her future as an English teacher in a girls' grammar school. For Miss Carter has a mission to fight social injustice, to prevent war and to educate her girls.

Sheila Hancock photo is by Clara Molden (courtesy of Chip Lit Fest)