Doris Leslie

Doris Leslie (née Oppenheim, later Lady Fergusson Hannay) (9 March 1891 – 30 May 1982), was a British novelist and historical biographer. Her novel Peridot Flight (1956) was serialised in 10 episodes by BBC TV in October–December 1960.^[1]

A number of her books had dust jackets with illustrated designs by period artists such as Philip Gough and Arthur Barbosa.

She was married three times:^[2] in 1914 to John Leslie Isaacson (1889–1919); in 1930 to Reginald Vincent Cookes (1894–1948); and in 1936 to Walter Fergusson Leisrink Hannay, who was knighted in 1951 and died in 1961.

Works

• The Starling (1927)
• Fools in Mortar (1928)
• The Echoing Green (1929)
• Terminus (1931)
• Puppets Parade (1932)
• Full Flavour (1934)
• Fair Company (1936)
• Concord in Jeopardy (1938)
• Another Cynthia: The Adventures of Cynthia, Lady Ffulkes (1780-1850), reconstructed from her hitherto unpublished memoirs (1939)
• Royal William: the Story of a Democrat (1940); life of William IV
• House in the Dust (1942)
• Polonaise (1942); a romance of Chopin
• Folly's End (1944)
• The Peverills (1946)
• Wreath for Arabella (1948); life of Lady Arabella Stuart
• That Enchantress (1950); life of Abigail Hill, Lady Marsham
• The Great Corinthian (1952); portrait of the Prince Regent
• A Toast to Lady Mary (1954); life of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
• Peridot Flight: a novel reconstructed from the memoirs of Peridot, Lady Mulvarnie 1872-1955 (1956)
• Tales of Grace and Favour (comprising Another Cynthia, Folly's End, & The Peverills) (1956)
• As the Tree Falls(1958); later published as The King's Traitor (1971),^[3] based on the life of King Henry VIII
• The Perfect Wife (1960); based on the life of Mary Anne Disraeli
• I Return: The Story of François Villon (1962)^[4]
• This for Caroline (1964); about Lady Caroline Lamb
• Paragon Street (1965)
• The Sceptre and the Rose (1967); life of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza
• The Marriage of Martha Todd (1968)
• House in the Dust (1969)
• The Rebel Princess (1970); about Sophia Dorothea of Celle
• A Young Wives' Tale (1971)
• The Desert Queen (1972); about Lady Hester Stanhope
• Dragon's Head (1973)
• The Incredible Duchess (1974); life and times of Elizabeth Chudleigh
• Call Back Yesterday (1975)
• Notorious Lady (1976); life and times of the Countess of Blessington
• The Warrior King (1977); the reign of Richard the Lionheart
• Crown of Thorns (1979); life and reign of Richard II^[5]

References

1. "Doris Leslie". IMDb.
2. England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915: John L Isaacson & Doris Oppenheim, St Marylebone London Sep 1914 Vol 1a Page 1588; Reginald V. Cookes & Doris Leslie, Hampstead Middlesex Mar 1930 Vol 1a Page 1089; Walter F L Hannay & Doris Leslie or Cookes, Westminster Middlesex Dec 1936 Vol 1a Page 1325
3. "The king's traitor". www.search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
4. Leslie, Doris (1962), I return : the story of François Villon, Hodder & Stoughton, retrieved 3 July 2013
5. "Books by Doris Leslie (Author of the Prime Minister's Wife)".