Joy Petersen Packer (12 February 1905 – 7 September 1977[1]) was a South African author of autobiography and romantic adventure novels.
During World War II she was a broadcaster to South Africa for the BBC, then worked in the Ministry of Information in Egypt, and at Allied Headquarters in Italy.
When her husband was knighted in the 1950 Birthday Honours list, she automatically became known as "Lady Packer", a courtesy title.
In the 1950s, she also began publishing novels, starting with Valley of the Vines in 1955, which sold more than 600,000 copies in English, and was translated into at least nine European languages.
Although her novels' principal themes were romantic, several sources state them as also important for their sociopolitical commentary on South Africa at the time.