1892-1990.

     Lucy Boston was born in Southport in Lancashire and educated at Downs School, Seaford. Then she went to Somerville College, Oxford. She trained at St. Thomas's Hospital and served as a nurse in France during World War I.

      Her first book, 'The Children of Green Knowe' was published in 1954. This was the first in the Green Knowe series that is set in a fictionalised version of her home, The Manor in Hemingford Grey near Huntingdon. The stories in the sequence feature the various children who lived in the house over the centuries. They meet the inhabitants of other ages as ghosts. The subsequent books are 'The Chimneys of G.K.' (aka 'Treasure of G.K.') (1958); 'The River at G.K.' (1959); 'A Stranger at G.K.' (1961); 'An Enemy at G.K.' (1964) and 'The Stones of G.K.' (1976).

      Her other books for children are 'The Castle of Yew' (1965); 'The Sea-Egg' (1967); 'The House that Grew' (1969); 'Nothing Said' (1971); 'Memory in a House' (1973); 'The Guardians of the House' (1974) and 'The Fossil Snake' (1976).

      She also wrote two novels for adults, 'Yew Hall' (1954) (also set in a fictionalised version of The Manor) and 'Persephone' (aka 'StrongHolds') (1969).

      The Manor was built in 1130 and is the oldest continuously inhabited house in the country. The Manor can be visited providing you make an appointment and with its topiary and patchwork collection its features are recognisable from Lucy's various books.