Mary Wesley: Novelist of The Camomile Lawn Dies at 90

Mary Wesley was an English novelist, famed for starting a late career as a bestselling author. Born Mary Farmar on June 24, 1912, in Englefield Green, Surrey, she began writing seriously in her late 50s.

Her first adult novel, Jumping the Queue, was published in 1983 when she was 71. The Camomile Lawn (1984) and Harnessing Peacocks (1985) became bestsellers, and she sold about three million books. She was appointed CBE in 1995.

Wesley was married twice and had three sons. She ordered her own coffin early and used it as a coffee table. She died of cancer at her home in Totnes, Devon, on December 30, 2002, at age 90.

Achievements: Ten bestsellers in her last two decades, CBE (1995).

Birth: June 24, 1912 - Englefield Green, Surrey, England.

Profession: Novelist.

Interesting Facts: She appeared on the Totnes pound in 2007.