Mary Wesley is a novelist known for her controversial subjects and sarcastic, often darkly humorous style. Although she considers herself a literary late bloomer-she began her career in writing at the age of fifty-seven-she has been a prolific writer, publishing three children's novels and ten adult novels as of 1996. Wesley is more well known in Britain, where motion-picture adaptations of several of her novels have aired on BBC networks. While Wesley enjoys a diverse audience and a general popularity, she has received little academic or scholarly attention.

Wesley was born Mary Farmar on 24 June 1912 in Englefield Green, England, to Harold Mynors Farmar, an army colonel, and Violet Dalby Farmar. Her family moved frequently to a series of countries because of her father's military postings. The moves meant that Wesley was taught by a succession of governesses, tutors, and military schools, leaving her with little formal education. To supplement...