About the Author

Dorothy Gladys 'Dodie' Smith was born in 1896 in Lancashire, England and she was one of the most successful female dramatists of her generation.She wrote Autumn; Crocus and Dear Octopus among other plays, but her first novel, I Capture the Castle was written when she lived in America during the '40s and marked her crossover debut from playwright to novelist.Today, however, she is best known for her stories for younger readers, The Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Starlight Barking.The One Hundred and One Dalmatians was inspired by Dodie's own Dalmatian named Pongo, and became the basis of two Disney films. Dodie Smith died in 1990