Lee Miller threw herself into life, dancing at Surrealist balls, taking fashion to Blitz-torn streets and dreaming up blue-spaghetti recipes, all the time intoxicating men and fighting inner demons, as Mary Miers reveals

MINNIE MACMILLAN sat at the kitchen table before her typewriter, pecking away at the keys. She was making a new copy of the short story she had been labouring on for the past week. Her method was to f

JOAN CRAWFORD’S career included more than 80 movies and an Oscar. She drew on life experience for her onscreen persona of a feisty woman striving to better herself, as her upbringing was tough. Born L

Our columnist fondly recalls her first experiences of the world of work – and a few mishaps!

I JUST couldn’t get used to New York. I always felt as if it was closing in on me. That’s why I strode along the sidewalks at a pace, just as everyone else seemed to. It was as if there was no tomorro

THE train was slowing. Augustine Brown looked again at the letter in her hand. Exciting news! her sister Cordelia had written. “An unexpected guest at the hotel: Maria Mironova. Exciting news indeed.