Charlotte Bingham wrote her first book, Coronet Among the Weeds, a memoir of her life as a debutante, at the age of 19. It was published in 1963 and became an instant bestseller. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, was a member of M15 where Charlotte Bingham worked as a secretary. He was an inspiration for John le Carre's character George Smiley. Charlotte Bingham went on to write thirty-three internationally bestselling novels and, in partnership with her late husband Terence Brady, a number of successful, plays, films and TV series including Upstairs Downstairsand Take Three Girls. She lives in Somerset. charlottebingham.com
The great joy of Bingham's prose is its youthful insouciance. She writes like a teenager, but an exceptionally observant one -- Lynn Barber * Spectator * Enormous fun ... Dazzling * Sunday Express * Wickedly funny * Country Life * Flamboyance is the keynote... I loved it * Daily Mail, Book of the Week * She has a keen eye ... Bingham concentrates on amusing asides and scraps of dialogue, and the jokes carry the story blithely along ... Its self-deprecatory portrait of a girl adrift is engaging, and it captures well the chance encounters that are often part of growing up -- Lindsay Duguid * Times Literary Supplement * Praise for MI5 and Me: 'Astonishing ... She still has all the exuberant delight of a teenager in telling stories to make herself and other people laugh. Long may she write -- Lynn Barber * Sunday Times * The sort of light, frothy book that makes your laugh out loud on public transport * Daily Mail, Books of the Summer 2018 * Hilarious and candid ... Filled with period detail, Bingham's memoir is entertaining and extraordinary -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer * A fun and breezy read * Observer, Best summer books 2018 * A Jilly Cooper heroine in a John le Carre world -- Libby Purves * Times Literary Supplement * A stone-cold comic classic ... Joyfully silly * Tatler * Sparky and larky -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Guardian * Much fun it is ... Brilliant, sly, charming and flighty * Spectator * One funny story follows another ... You will be sure to find this book a most entertaining and enjoyable read * Country Life *