Latest:
The Virginia Monologues - 20 Reasons Why Growing Old is Great (Hardback - 2009)
Do I need to say more?
Novels:
No! I Don’t Want to Join a Bookclub (Paperback - 2007)
I wrote this after I’d discovered that being sixty wasn’t a curse, but a blessing. It’s a fictional diary about a sixty-year-old grannie – grumpy old women meet Bridget Jones.
Distant Sunset (Paperback - 1982)
A traditional historical romance, set in mutinous India. The heroine survives everything, from marrying a Maharajah, avoiding the fiery suttee ceremony, being nearly killed by thuggees – full of mad adventures.
Chelsea Bird (Hardcover - 1964)
My first book, which I wrote when I was 19. It caused quite a stir because it was written at a time when “young people” had only just been discovered as a force to be reckoned with. It’s about an art student in Chelsea – rather like me at the time!
Made For Each Other
This is a serious novel about an obsessive love affair – based, as usual, partly on my own experience. I hope lots of women will identify with it.
Memoir:
Janey and Me: Growing Up with My Mother (Hardback - 2003)
My mother was a fashion icon who became Professor Fashion at the Royal College of Art in the ‘sixties. Genius as she was, she simply wasn’t a mum. It’s part autobiography and part biography of her sad life.
Help and Advice:
You’ll Get Over It: The Rage of Bereavement
I wrote this after my father died, having found absolutely no book that satisfied my needs. Stages of grief - shock, denial, numbness, guilt, rage, misery and resolution? Rubbish.
The Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside and Frank Rodgers
A book to help children between 7 and 13 confide their worries in other people. The heroine is pursued by a sinister bag of worries which she can’t get rid of. Finally she finds a lovely grannie figure who helps her. Used extensively in schools.
Goodbye, Dear Friend: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Pet
When I was working at the Sunday Mirror as an agony aunt, I put a letter in the column from someone suffering from pet bereavement. This book is a mix of advice, and quotes from the 300 moving letters I got in response.
How to Have a Baby and Stay Sane
I wrote this when my son was born, because I felt there were no books around at the time to explain the pitfalls of pregnancy and birth. It was illustrated by my father.
Problems! Problems!: Confessions of an Agony Aunt
I wrote this during my career as an agony aunt, outlining the kind of problems I receive – from the weird to the mundane - and the kind of advice I give.
Children’s Fiction:
Vampire Master at Burlap Hall (Burlap Hall Mysteries)
These all comprise a series of books for children between about 11 and 14. They are all set in the co-educational boarding school, Burlap Hall. This first book tells of a biology teacher who comes to replace the existing one who has resigned to join a cult. Mr Culard turns out to be Dracula.
Phantom of Burlap Hall (Burlap Hall Mysteries)
Tells the old Phantom of the Opera story again – building works disturb the bones of an old and cruel headmaster of the school, who comes back to haunt the place.
Spaceboy at Burlap Hall (Burlap Hall Mysteries)
tells of a creepy boy from outer space who arrives because someone tinkers about with the computers.
Poltergeist at Burlap Hall (Burlap Hall Mysteries)
is the story of a an evil presence that coincides with the arrival of a very unpleasant caretaker at the school.
Roseanne and the Magic Mirror (Young Childrens Fiction) by Virginia Ironside and Caroline Holden
One day Roseanne, a sad little girl, finds a magic mirror, divided into three parts. One side displays her good side – Rose - , the other, her naughty side, Anne. Eventually the two make friends and turn into Roseanne, who appears in the central mirror.
The Human Zoo (Young Childrens Fiction)
A boy goes to the zoo on his birthday and is given some magic peanuts by a gorilla which make him understand the animals’ language. He’s horrified when his family are taken away for a human zoo… It has a happy ending for animals and humans, and is suitable for 9 - 13 year olds.