Charlotte Bingham wrote her first book, Coronet Among the Weeds, a memoir of her life as a debutante, at the age of 19. It was published in 1963 and became an instant bestseller. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, was a member of M15 where Charlotte Bingham worked as a secretary. He was an inspiration for John le Carré's character George Smiley.

Charlotte Bingham went on to write thirty-three internationally bestselling novels and, in partnership with her late husband Terence Brady, a number of successful, plays, films and TV series including Upstairs Downstairsand Take Three Girls. She lives in Somerset.

charlottebingham.com

The wickedly funny sequel to the MI5 and Me, described by Tatler as 'a stone cold comic classic', following the irrepressible Lottie's adventures in 1950s London

London in the 1950s. Lottie is a reluctant typist at MI5 and the even more reluctant daughter of the organisation's most illustrious spy. Now she has had the bad luck to fall in love with Harry, a handsome if frustrated young actor, who has also been press-ganged into the family business, acting as one of her father's undercover agents in the Communist hotbed of British theatre.

Together the two young lovers embark on a star-studded adventure through the glittering world of theatre - but, between missing files, disapproving parents, and their own burgeoning creative endeavours, life is about to become very complicated indeed...

The great joy of Bingham's prose is its youthful insouciance. She writes like a teenager, but an exceptionally observant one

Enormous fun ... Dazzling

Wickedly funny

Flamboyance is the keynote. I loved it

She has a keen eye . Bingham concentrates on amusing asides and scraps of dialogue, and the jokes carry the story blithely along . Its self-deprecatory portrait of a girl adrift is engaging, and it captures well the chance encounters that are often part of growing up

Praise for MI5 and Me: 'Astonishing ... She still has all the exuberant delight of a teenager in telling stories to make herself and other people laugh. Long may she write

The sort of light, frothy book that makes your laugh out loud on public transport

Hilarious and candid . Filled with period detail, Bingham's memoir is entertaining and extraordinary

A fun and breezy read

A Jilly Cooper heroine in a John le Carré world

A stone-cold comic classic . Joyfully silly

Sparky and larky

Much fun it is . Brilliant, sly, charming and flighty

One funny story follows another . You will be sure to find this book a most entertaining and enjoyable read