First-time-author, Jan Slimming, is currently based in Atlanta, USA, but has lived in various London locations – including Wimbledon, Raynes Park, Esher, Mitcham and Chelsea.
Her first novel has taken eight years to research and is the true story of the undercover life of her mother, Daisy Lawrence, a former Bletchley Park Codebreaker.
Daisy lived in Kenlor Road, SW17 until after the war when she moved to a flat in Deal Road.
She attended Sellincourt Road School from four until 14 years old, before working at the haberdashery department at Tooting’s RACS (Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society).
Here, Daisy met her future husband, Stanley Moore, who attended Graveney School and worked at the delicatessen.
However, at the height of the war the couple were forced to leave to take up national duties.
Daisy, at Bletchley Park cracking Japanese codes, and Stanley in the Royal Army Service Corps.
Ms Slimming’s book features original letters and photographs from family and friends' archives, including the Vatican War enquiry Department, the Foreign Office, Bletchley Park and the National Archives.
The plot answers questions about how and why Daisy was chosen, and the burden of hiding such a secret from her family for most of her life.
Ms Slimming is planning to bring out another book, co-authored by her twin sister, about her father’s harrowing experience as a Prisoner of War under the Japanese.
