Richmal Crompton: The Woman Behind William

by Mary Cadogan

Richmal Crompton's "William" is known even to those who have never read the books featuring his anarchic exploits. For many, the scruffy, adventurous and exuberant William and his trials and tribulations with the awful Violet Elizabeth and his companions in daring, Ginger, Henry and Douglas remain a part of our childhood. But what do we know of his creator, who always shunned the limelight? So shy of fame was she that, owing to her unusual Christian name, many people thought she was, in fact, a man. In this biography, Mary Cadogan provides a portrait of a witty and talented writer, and a celebration of her works. Fully illustrated with pictures of Richmal and her family - including the brother, nephew and great-nephew who helped inspire William's antics - and the timeless original pictures of William by Thomas Henry.

Genres: Biography

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 1986

About the author

An author who has published extensively on the topics of popular and children's fiction - from a study of women in detective novels, to a biography of Richmal Crompton, creator of the Just William and Billy Bunter series - Mary Cadogan took to writing late in life, after a long career, first with the BBC, and then working for Indian philosopher Krishnamurti. She edited the Just William Society Magazine for a number of years, as well as the Story Paper Collectors' Digest, from 1987 through 2005. Cadogan was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University in 2009.


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[George Foord · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read and very well researched by the author. A must for anyone who likes her books.

[Robin Braysher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't the most exciting biography, but then it's not a requirement of successful authors that they lead exciting lives! There were circumstances in Crompton's life that prevented it from being especially exciting, but the benefit to us was the creation of William Brown in 1922. I was a fan of the books in my youth, have seen various TV adaptations over the years and returned to the stories with my own children, particularly in the form of audiobooks - which probably explains why every quote from a William story in the book, I heard in the voice of Martin Jarvis!

This is a perfectly serviceable account of her life and this and the fact that she wrote other books and, indeed, intended William for an adult readership, was all new to me. Very readable, I read the whole book in a single day, on train journeys to and from London. If you are interested in the William stories then it's worth a read, if you're not then maybe give it a miss!

[John Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of the author.

There are some interesting facts and snippets about the life of Richmal but also there are a lot of quotes from her books that don't necessarily fit the parts of her life that are being described. I feel that these could have been omitted.

I felt that the biography was overwritten in parts but also skirted around certain things that might have added to the account. I'd recommend it to fans of William Brown but not necessarily to the general reader.

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not speshully well wrote but innerestin.

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched tribute to one of the 20th centuries great children's author's who really wanted to be an adult author Shades of Connan Doyle with Sherlock? However, Richmal Compton knew what bought home the bacon. And continued to write stories about William until her death. Delightful

[Brian]

I am still looking for it as an e-book.

[Steve Clark]

1987