Novelist and screenwriter whose tales of women taking control of their own destinies included The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
, who has died aged 91, was to an unusual extent the creation of her own extravagant imagination. A polemicist whose opinions shaped themselves around the plot of her latest book, a pragmatist who giggled her way through every sentence, she was mischievous and evasive, yet wilfully and wittily life-affirming.
Frieda came from boisterous bohemian stock. She had modelled as a child for the pre-Raphaelite artist Holman Hunt and studied the piano under Clara Schumann before abandoning her career to marry Edgar Jepson, a friend of Aleister Crowley who wrote 73 popular novels with titles such as Lady Noggs Assists and The Reluctant Footman. One of the family’s many faithless husbands, Edgar committed his final betrayal when, at the age of 69, he impregnated his mistress and decided he had to marry her.
Fay Weldon with the producer Derek Bennett discussing the adaptation of a script for television in 1967.The Foreign Office was too buttoned-up to accommodate her for long, and she left after becoming pregnant by a singer and nightclub doorman, and deciding that she wanted the baby, but not the father.
From then on she wrote at an industrial rate, turning out more than 30 novels at the same time as continuing a screenwriting career that included the pilot of the TV series Upstairs, Downstairs, and a five-part adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which appeared faithful to the original while slyly rearranging the marital politics of Mr and Mrs Bennet to make him meaner and her more sympathetic.
Ron died in 1994 as their divorce became final. Fay remarried within a year and continued writing and making headlines from the home in Dorset that she shared with her third husband, Nick Fox, a poet and one-time bookseller, who became her manager. He was a quiet presence in the background of many a media profile, serving up plates of pasta, and stepping in to temper her wilder assertions, while Weldon gleefully decried the domestic incompetence of husbands. They separated in 2020.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
China’s richest shoppers hold the key to luxury’s futureBig Bling’s fortunes are inextricably linked to China, whose shoppers are estimated to have accounted for 17 per cent to 19 per cent of global spending in 2022.
Read more »
'Bring my little man back': Father's emotional plea for son after losing wife in chopper crashA man who watched his wife and son take off on a doomed chopper on the Gold Coast has asked for 'prayers to bring my little man back to me' as the 10-year-old fights for his life in hospital.
Read more »
Why 88-year-old Graham says his daily swimming group ‘keeps me alive’The Fab Five swimming group — whose oldest member is 91 — say their routine keeps them ageing well, and the socialising is just as important as the exercise.
Read more »
Geelong boy fighting for life after surviving helicopter crashA Geelong boy is fighting for his life and his mother remains in stable condition with extensive injuries after a ‘dream’ helicopter gift turned tragic mere 20 seconds after lifting off the ground.
Read more »
Three in court on murder charges after teen found dead in burnt out carThree people have faced court over the death of a 19-year-old whose body was discovered after a car fire in northern Victoria on Christmas Eve.
Read more »
Three in court on murder charges after teen found dead in burnt out carThree people have faced court over the death of a teenager whose body was discovered after a car fire in northern Victoria on Christmas Eve. 9News
Read more »