Laking86Interesting little biography of the editor of one of the Penguin Plays paperbacks published in the 50s. “Her recreations, interests and tastes are those proper to a woman.” Different times and all that!
Doctor LURK@Laking86 @bookstodon "To wit, she enjoys shooting her collection of antique Ottoman arquebusses at passing aircraft and writing long, paranoid letters to the editor of the Times. She lives rent-free in the disused belfry of a small and worn-down Anglican church, unbeknownst to its minister. On moonlit nights, she brews mysterious elixirs with graveyard dust and human blood, and feeds them (for unknown reasons) to an ever-growing family of extremely large and aggressive church crows."
Jessica 
🇺🇦 🇵🇸 ✡️@doctorLURK @Laking86 @bookstodon
😂 I thought that sentence might have been satirical as well, so I have been trying to find out more about Janet (J.M.) Morrell. No luck so far.
😂 I thought that sentence might have been satirical as well, so I have been trying to find out more about Janet (J.M.) Morrell. No luck so far.
@jewishreader @doctorLURK @bookstodon I fear you may struggle as allowing her life to be further documented would not be befitting of her status as a proper woman.
@Laking86 But neither is having a career (!) as an academic editor (!), and she went ahead and did that.
@jewishreader @Laking86 @bookstodon Oh, good idea! I'll cast about too. Do tell if you find anything out!
@jewishreader @Laking86 @bookstodon
Hey! I don't know if I'd call this "more information," really, but I'm 99% certain I've found a reference to her birth record thanks to #FreeBMD, a project to digitize and transcribe historical civil records for England and Wales. Most similar services are paid, so check them out at https://www.freebmd.org.uk if you get a chance; the work they're doing is really cool!
Anyway her middle name was Margaret and she was born in late '06, near Neath. Now we know!
@doctorLURK @jewishreader @bookstodon Other than seeing she edited at least one other Penguin collection I haven’t seen much else about her. Sadly this is a different J M Morrell who has written quite substantially on horse sperm as that would have put a very interesting complexion on what was considered a recreation for a proper woman in the 50s.
@Laking86 @doctorLURK Prepare the fainting couch!