P. D. James Phyllis Dorothy James
7 min read
Reading time
1,256
Words
Published
8
Film credits
37
Books
8
Awards
P.D. James, born Phyllis Dorothy James in 1920, began writing late but published her first novel Cover Her Face in 1962. She created detective Adam Dalgliesh and wrote 20 books. She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1983 and served as a BBC Governor. She died in Oxford in 2014 at age 94.
Names, aliases, and relatives of P.D. James — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
P.D. James by the numbers — life, work, and family.
P.D. James — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
On 3 August 1920, Oxford, Oxfordshire, became the birthplace of Phyllis Dorothy James, daughter of Dorothy Amelia Hone and Sydney Victor James. She attended Cambridge Girls’ High School and later Long Road Sixth Form College. Her childhood in Oxford and her education in the city shaped the settings of her later crime novels.
James published her first novel, Cover Her Face, in 1962, introducing detective Adam Dalgliesh. Over the next four decades she wrote 20 books, including The Black Tower 1975 and A Certain Justice 1997. Her work was adapted into television series and the film Children of Men 2006, in which she made a cameo appearance as a café customer. She also served as a Governor of the BBC from 1988 to 1993.
In 1941 she married Ernest Connor Bantry White, with whom she had two daughters, Clare and Jane. The couple later separated. James lived primarily in Oxford, where she died on 27 November 2014 at the age of 94.
James received honors including Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1983, the Cartier Diamond Dagger, the Grand Master award, and the title Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991. Her legacy includes creating the detective Adam Dalgliesh and raising the literary standard of the British crime novel.
The complete filmography of P.D. James — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by P.D. James — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
P.D. James's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from P.D. James — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Think I’m Very Frightened of Violence. I Hate It. and It May Be That by Writing Mysteries I Am Able, as It Were, to Exorcise This Fear, Which May Very Well Be the Same Reason so Many People Enjoy Reading a Mystery.
That Kind of Crime Writing Was Dull, in the Sense That It Was Unrealistic, Prettifying and Romanticizing Murder, but Having Little to Do with Real Blood and Guts Tragedy. One Simply Cannot Take These as Realistic Books About Murder, About the Horror of Murder, the Tragedy of Murder, the Harm That Murder Does.
If Our Sex Life Were Determined by Our First Youthful Experiments, Most of the World Would Be Doomed to Celibacy. in No Area of Human Experience Are Human Beings More Convinced That Something Better Can Be Had Only If They Persevere.
Perhaps Adam Dalgliesh Is an Idealized Version of What I’d Have Liked to Be If I Had Been Born a Man.
Little-known facts about P.D. James — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
She received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 1983.
She served as a Governor of the BBC from 1988 to 1993.
She created the detective Adam Dalgliesh and wrote 20 books, starting with Cover Her Face in 1962 at a relatively late age.
She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
She attended Cambridge Girls’ High School for her education.
In 1991 she was made Baroness James of Holland Park, though she continued to be known as P.D. James.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about P.D. James.
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