While Pauline Clarke Hunter Blair is best known for her award-winning novel The Twelve and the Genii (1962), her distinguished career includes writing fantasy, historical fiction, adventure stories, domestic tales, and poetry. Critics have praised her historical books for their accuracy and her later fantasies for their believability. Although her work encompasses several genres, it focuses on a few main themes--particularly the power of the imagination, the value of the past (sometimes represented by historical or literary artifacts), and the difficulty of developing trust and maintaining loyalty. Her books evoke a strong sense of place, whether they are set in London, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Italy, or inside a doll's house.

Clarke, the youngest of three daughters, was born on 19 May 1921 in Kirkby-in-Ashfield to Charles Leopold Clarke, a minister, and Dorothy Kathleen Milum. Their house was filled with books. In fact, her father wrote theology and her mother stories for women's...