Pamela Frankau

Pamela Frankau was a British novelist who came from an artistic and literary family. Her father, Gilbert Frankau was a novelist also, but he left his wife and daughters at an early age and Pamela did not have a close relationship with him. She was educated at a boarding school and when she left school, she started writing, and had a lot of success. She became the mistress of Humbert Wolfe, a poet who was married. They had an intense affair, in spite of his marriage and when he died in 1940 Pamela gave up writing for several years. She served in the women's services during the War, and during that time began a lesbian affair with a fellow officer. This lasted for a time and her lover influenced her towards becoming a Catholic. At the end of the War, she married an American naval officer and went to America with him; they had a son, who died at birth, and after a few years the marriage ended in divorce. Pamela returned to the UK, and went on writing. In 1953, she met the American British theatre Director, Margaret Webster and the 2 became a couple. They divirced their time between Hampstead and Martha's Vineyard where Webster had a home. They were happy and fulfilled and Pamela went on writing, one novel in particular, the Willow Cabin, was based on her affair with Wolfe. In the 1960s however she got breast cancer and died in 1967. A few of her books are still in print.