P. D. James

-
PDJ was a crime writer with a major reputation in both Britain and the United States. As well as her mystery novels, she wrote non-mystery novels, one excursion into science fiction, non-fiction, a play, short stories, articles, and an autobiography, and gave many talks and lectures. One critic considered her basically a novelist who happens to put her characters into mystery stories.
qtd. in
Gidez, Richard. P. D. James. Twayne, 1986.
5
Her books have been widely distributed in many countries and translated into many languages, including Japanese.
  • BirthName: Phyllis Dorothy James
  • Self-constructed: P. D. James
    She considered writing as Phyllis James and Phyllis D. James before deciding on the more cryptic initials.
    Farndale, Nigel. “PD James interview: ’I have lived a very happy and fulfilled life’”. Daily Telegraph, 21 July 2010.
  • Married: White
  • Titled: Baroness James of Holland Park
    Who’s Who. Adam and Charles Black, 1849–2025, Annual Volumes.
    Her peerage was named from Holland Park at Southwold, in the County of Suffolk,
    Who’s Who. Adam and Charles Black, 1849–2025, Annual Volumes.
    though this place is hard to identify.
Photograph of P. D. James in Cologne, 2013. She sits with pen in hand, ready to sign a book. She is wearing a loose-fitting grey turtleneck, with a chunky necklace and a wristwatch, and glasses. Her grey hair is chin-length.

Milestones

3 August 1920

PDJ was born at 164 Walton Street, Oxford.
James, P. D. Time to Be in Earnest. Faber and Faber, 1999.
4
Gidez, Richard. P. D. James. Twayne, 1986.
1

November 1972

PDJ published An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, her fifth mystery novel, which first introduced her then unprecedented professional female detective, Cordelia Gray.
British Books in Print. J. Whitaker and Sons, 1874–1987.
1973
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
276
Ashby, Melanie. “P. D. James Talks to Melanie Ashby”. Mslexia, Vol.
14
, 1 June–30 Nov. 2002, pp. 39-40.
40

28 September 1992

PDJ continued to display her fondness for Biblical titles in publishing The Children of Men, a dystopian novel which is her second non-detective story.
Blackwell’s Online Bookshop. http://Bookshop.Blackwell.co.uk.
James, P. D. Time to Be in Earnest. Faber and Faber, 1999.
12
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
276

27 November 2014

PDJ died at her house in Oxford, aged ninety-four.
“PD James, crime novelist, dies aged 94”. BBC News, 27 Nov. 2014.

Biography

Birth and Family

3 August 1920

PDJ was born at 164 Walton Street, Oxford.
James, P. D. Time to Be in Earnest. Faber and Faber, 1999.
4
Gidez, Richard. P. D. James. Twayne, 1986.
1

Please click on login button to check your access and/or enter your credentials. Alternatively if you don’t have access, please click on “Subscribe”.

Log inSubscribe