Carter was born in Eastborne, England, in 1940, the daughter of Hugh and Olive Stalker. It was the beginning of World War II and, fearing Hitler's approach, the family soon moved to South Yorkshire, where Carter was raised by her mother and maternal grandmother. After the war the family returned to the London area. Carter reports a close relationship with her father, a journalist originally from Scotland, but also claims that he was overprotective of her. In adolescence she suffered from anorexia, which she attributes to her family's sexual conservatism. Nevertheless, writes Alison Lee in her study Angela Carter, "the picture she paints of her family life is generally affectionate and her depiction of her childhood home highlights its dreamlike aura." She hated school and, against her mother's wishes, did not apply to university. Her father helped Carter secure a job as a journalist.

In 1960 she married...