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Margery Sharp

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Margery Sharp was a very busy writer from England. She spent her life creating many different kinds of stories. She wrote 25 novels meant for adults. She also wrote 14 novels just for children. Her work included short stories and even plays for the stage.

Many people know her best for her stories about mice. Her Rescuers series features a brave mouse named Miss Bianca. She works with her partner, Bernard, to help others. These stories were so popular that Walt Disney made an animated movie about them in 1977. They even released a sequel called The Rescuers Down Under in 1990.

Sharp had a very interesting way of learning about the world. She was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1905. As a child, she lived in Malta for a time. She later used those memories to write her book, The Sun in Scorpio. When she grew up, she studied French at Bedford College in London. She also spent a year studying art at the Westminster Art School.

Sharp was also very good at debating. She joined a university debating team. Her team was the first one to compete in the United States.

Writing was a job that Sharp did throughout her whole life. She began publishing stories in Punch magazine when she was 21. She wrote for many famous magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Good Housekeeping. Her very first novel was called Rhododendron Pie. She finished writing that book in only one month. It was published in 1930.

In 1938, she married an engineer named Major Geoffrey Castle. During World War II, she worked as an Army Education Lecturer for three years.

Many of Sharp's stories traveled from books to the big screen. Her book The Nutmeg Tree became a Broadway play called The Lady in Waiting. In 1948, it became a Hollywood film called Julia Misbehaves. Another popular book, Cluny Brown, became a movie in 1946. That film starred Jennifer Jones, who won an Academy Award.

Her book Britannia Mews was also turned into a film. It was released in 1949 under the name The Forbidden Street. Even her short stories, like The Notorious Tenant, became movies.

Sharp's books have helped many different people enjoy reading. Some of her children's books were illustrated by Garth Williams. He is a famous artist who also drew Charlotte's Web. Other books in her mouse series were drawn by Erik Blegvad.

Even though many of her adult books stopped being printed in 2008, they came back later. In 2016, ten of her novels were released as Kindle editions. This allowed new readers to find her stories again. Margery Sharp lived until 1991 and left behind a huge collection of tales.

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