Celia Dale (15 January 1912 – 31 December 2011), was an English author and book reviewer.
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Family
Both Celia Dale's parents were actors – her father was the noted stage and television actor James Dale (1887–1985), her mother Marguerite Adamson. She was a cousin of the novelist Sarah Harrison. She was married to the journalist and critic Guy Ramsey, until his death in 1959.
Work
During the 30s and 40s, until her first pregnancy and first novel, she was secretary for nine years to the Daily Express editor Arthur Christiansen. Her novel Trial of Strength (1955) about a Fleet Street journalist drew upon this experience. She also worked as a secretary to the author Rumer Godden.
Celia Dale's first novel, The Least Of These, was published in 1943 and she went on to write twelve more and a volume of short stories. Her later novels were psychological thrillers. She won several awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Best Short Story of the Year award for Lines of Communication and A Personal Call and other stories in 1986. In 2008, four of her novels were reissued as Faber Finds. Five of her books are currently in print with Daunt Books Publishers.
Celia Dale died on 31 December 2011, at age 99.