Mary Wesley

Chris Willis (London Metropolitan University)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Mary Wesley (Mary Aline Mynars Siepmann) became unexpectedly famous at the age of 70 with the publication of her first adult novel,

Jumping the Queue

(1983), the tragi-comic tale of a woman whose plans for suicide are interrupted by a series of minor mishaps and romantic incidents which became an instant best-seller. Further success followed with

The Camomile Lawn

which recounted the exploits an unconventional upper-class English family and their German Jewish friends during the Second World War.

Set among the English upper classes, Wesley's novels feature unconventional heroines who often shock those around them, and who have active love-lives well into their old age. She once wrote: “People are startled by my books because they think, how can an old woman write about sex? ... The idea

380 words

Citation: Willis, Chris. "Mary Wesley". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4666, accessed 29 March 2024.]

4666 Mary Wesley 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.