Violet Needham

Needham's early life, spent moving between houses large and small in England and on the continent, is seen as providing the basis for many of her books.

The family spent summer holidays in Europe, and lived there for six years when Needham and her sister were young women, their father being military attaché at Rome from 1895 to 1901.

Her sister Evelyn married in 1903 and had four sons, and Needham was a devoted aunt, telling bedtime stories which formed the basis of the 'Stormy Petrel' adventures.

Following the deaths of Freshfield and her father Charles in 1934 (on the day of Diamond Wedding anniversary),[4] and her mother Amy in 1936, Tylehurst was sold and Violet went to live in London.

Others, such as The Woods of Windri and The Changeling of Monte Lucio are set in an undefined mediaeval period with monasteries playing an important role.

It is the story of an orphan boy who becomes a member of a secret rebel movement led by a saint-like figure called Far-Away Moses.

"[2] In the early 1950s, Needham left her London house to live with her widowed sister, subsequently giving up writing after a motor accident.