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Isabel Matthews wrote fairytales for children. From its beginning in the beautiful village of Flackwell Heath her own life seems like a fairytale of its own.

This all too plain girl, with huge projecting teeth, and long, lanky legs had boundless energy. She loved racing, jumping, swimming, climbing trees, more often standing on her head, seeing the world upside down. Isabel was marvellous with children. She worked as a Truby King nurse, and then met and married, Christian Matthews, a saxophonist and occasional chauffeur who ran his own laundry. After the birth of their two boys, Bill and Paul, they went to live in India where Christian served with the RAF. With nannies caring for the children and plenty of servants, Isabel wrote her first story, Pongo Land, about a magical island where the trees grew beautiful china and cutlery, and where children never had to go to school. The publishers, Thacker & Co reacted by printing every story she ever wrote.

After the war, it was back to England, living for a time at Hunt Copse Farm, which was reputedly where Alfred the Great burnt the cakes. Then it was off to Australia, followed by further adventures in America and back to England where Christian worked as a chauffeur for the legendary actor, Rex Harrison. This is a life of wonderful observations, rich in experience, like walking along the beach in Juhu, conversing with the Indian spiritual and political leader, Mahatma Gandhi, about the beauty of the moon and the sea, in fact, a fairy tale life.

Cover Type: soft back
Published by: This Is My Story
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