The Dark Tower

Phyllis Bottome -- pen name and maiden name for Phyllis Forbes-Dennis -- made her living teaching at a school she and her husband founded in Kitzbühel, in Austria. She had some success there -- Ian Fleming, the man who became famous writing James Bond novels, was one of her students.

She wrote, too -- with considerable success, selling three books (Private Worlds, The Mortal Storm, and Danger Signal) to the movies. But we're republishing her because we like the way she could turn a phrase. Seriously, listen to the start of the tale you hold in hand:

"Winn Staines respected God, the royal family, and his regiment; but even his respect for these three things was in many ways academic: he respected nothing else.

"His father, Admiral Sir Peter Staines, had never respected anything; he went to church, however, because his wife didn't. They were that kind of family.

"Lady Staines had had twelve children. Seven of them died as promptly as their constitutions allowed. . . ."

The woman could write, and she had quite a lot to say. In the end, those are the things that matter where it comes to books, aren't they?