According to her obituary in The Times, Adam was "admired for her shrewd and well-observed reporting on a wide range of subjects, not least of court cases relating to questions of freedom of expression and human rights.

[2] Adam was educated at Ashford Girls' School, followed by a degree from Cambridge University in economics (having changed subject from French and Spanish) having studied at Girton College, Cambridge.

[2] Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Adam wrote on a wide range of subjects for the New Statesman rising to associate editor, The Guardian, and The Observer.

[3] On 20 November 1958, she married fellow journalist Neal Ascherson at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London.

[2] Adam died on 8 March 2012, in a fire at her home in Rhyl Street, Kentish Town, north London, and was survived by her two daughters.