Initially studying art, Bagnold became a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse during World War I. She published A Diary Without Dates (1918), which was critical of VAD policies and procedures and which led to her dismissal. In 1920, she married Sir Roderick Jones, the head of the Reuters news agency. In 1924, she published Serena Blandish, which was well received, however, it was her novel National Velvet which appeared in 1935 that gave her international fame. Among her other works are The Happy Foreigner (1920), Alice and Thomas and Jane (1930), Door of Life (1938), Lottie Dundass (1941), The Love and the Envied (1951), The Chalk Garden (1955), The Chinese Prime Minister (1964) and her Autobiography (1969). |