Happy Birthday: Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress and singer. Her work includes both film and television, and her accolades include two Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. In 2025, Time included her in their selection of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Bell began her acting career starring in stage productions, while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She made her Broadway stage debut as Becky Thatcher in the comedy musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (2001) and appeared in a Broadway revival of The Crucible (2002). She then appeared in the action film Spartan and received praise for her performance in the television drama film Gracie's Choice (both 2004).

Bell had her breakout performance as the title character in the television series Veronica Mars (2004–2007), a role she reprised in the 2014 spin-off film and the 2019 revival. She also starred as Elle Bishop in the superhero drama series Heroes (2007–2008), voiced the titular narrator in the teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and its 2021 standalone sequel, and starred in the Showtime comedy series House of Lies (2012–2016). She received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her leading roles in the NBC comedy series The Good Place (2016–2020) and the Netflix romantic comedy series Nobody Wants This (2024); the latter also earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series.

During her time on Veronica Mars, Bell starred in the television musical film Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005) and the horror film Pulse (2006). She has since appeared in a number of comedy films, including Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Couples Retreat (2009), When in Rome (2010), You Again (2010), Burlesque (2010), Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), Stuck in Love (2012), The Lifeguard (2013), The Boss (2016), Bad Moms (2016), A Bad Moms Christmas (2017), How to Be a Latin Lover (2017), CHiPs (2017), Like Father (2018), Queenpins (2021), The People We Hate at the Wedding (2022), and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023). She received further recognition for voicing Princess Anna in the Disney animated films Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019). She is also the voice of Amy Rose in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

In 2006 and again in 2013, Bell was selected "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" on PETA's yearly poll. She was placed 68 on Maxim's 2005 "Hot 100" list, 11 in Maxim's 2006 "Hot 100" list, and 46 in Maxim's 2007 "Hot 100" list in which she was stated to have "single-handedly saved The CW from becoming the worst network ever". In 2006, Maxim also placed Bell at the top of the "Fall TV's Criminally Sexy Investigators" List. In 2008, she was ranked 59 on AskMen's Top 99 Women of 2008 List. Reflecting on her admitted popularity with "geeks", Bell was voted the fourth-sexiest woman on TV by the staff at Wizard magazine.

Happy Birthday: Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the 20th century.

Born in Kaunas, Lithuania (then within the Russian Empire), to a Lithuanian Jewish family, Goldman immigrated to the United States in 1885. Attracted to anarchism after the Haymarket affair in Chicago, Goldman became a writer and a renowned lecturer on anarchist philosophy, women's rights, and social issues, attracting crowds of thousands. She and anarchist writer Alexander Berkman, her lover and lifelong friend, planned to assassinate industrialist and financier Henry Clay Frick as an act of propaganda of the deed. Frick survived the attempt on his life in 1892, and Berkman was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Goldman was imprisoned several times in the years that followed, for "inciting to riot" and illegally distributing information about birth control. In 1906, Goldman founded the anarchist journal Mother Earth.

In 1917, Goldman and Berkman were sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring to "induce persons not to register" for the newly instated draft. After their release from prison, they were arrested—along with 248 others—in the so-called Palmer Raids during the First Red Scare and deported to Russia in December 1919. Initially supportive of that country's October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power, Goldman changed her opinion in the wake of the Kronstadt rebellion; she denounced the Soviet Union for its violent repression of independent voices. She left the Soviet Union and in 1923 published a book about her experiences, My Disillusionment in Russia. While living in England, Canada, and France, she wrote an autobiography called Living My Life. It was published in two volumes, in 1931 and 1935. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Goldman traveled to Spain to support the anarchist revolution there. She died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1940, aged 70.

During her life, Goldman was lionized as a freethinking "rebel woman" by admirers, and denounced by detractors as an advocate of politically motivated murder and violent revolution. Her writing and lectures spanned a wide variety of issues, including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, free love, and homosexuality. Although she distanced herself from first-wave feminism and its efforts toward women's suffrage, she developed new ways of incorporating gender politics into anarchism. After decades of obscurity, Goldman gained iconic status in the 1970s by a revival of interest in her life, when feminist and anarchist scholars rekindled popular interest.

Just Finished Reading: A History of Britain in 21 Women by Jenni Murray (FP: 2016) [276pp] 

It is a truth (generally acknowledged) that many women have been ‘written out’ of History. Part of this is through ignorance, but part of it is intentional and at least part of the authors intentions with this interesting book was to put part of that oversight right. Another part was to showcase women she admires and who she took as examples to aspire to. Most of the list was pretty obvious – indeed unavoidable – given British history. Women such as Boadicea (using the old spelling that both the author and I grew up with) and Elizabeth I are shoe-ins on any such list as this. Others I was either unaware of – like Aphra Behn (a 17th century playwright) or Ethel Smyth (a 19th century composer) or only knew in passing.  

Naturally a good chunk of the text, and a good number of the women listed, revolved around the movement for and the gradual increase of the Rights of Woman, with an expected chapter on Mary Wollstonecraft, and included Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Constance Markievicz who was the first woman MP elected in the 1918 General Election. Nancy Astor (also getting her own chapter here) was actually the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons as Constance Markievicz had refused to do so as a member of Sinn Fein who boycotted the English parliament in protest at the lack of Home Rule for Ireland. 

The last few women on this list had the extra ‘wrinkle’ of having actually being interviewed by the author during her career as a journalist. These included Labour politician Barbara Castle (who I liked), Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (who I voted for TWICE) and fashion designer Mary Quant (who I definitely want to read more about). Rounding the list out was Scottish SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon whose political career has been.... ‘interesting’ to say the least, especially lately! 

Overall, this was an interesting read which introduced me to a few objects of further interest as well as showcasing the fact that women did actually exist in the historical past and did actually have an impact on British history. One of the things I find most gratifying, even in just the 10 years since the publication of this work, is the number and range of women's biographies from across the globe that have plucked important (and often fascinating) women from the previous obscurity they had been condemned to inhabit. Definitely worth your time for both snapshots of British history and as an introduction to some of the women who helped shape it. More to come. 

Happy Birthday: Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (née Sutherland; 13 June 1863 – 20 April 1935) was a leading British fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who worked under the professional name Lucile.

The first British-based designer to achieve international acclaim, Lucy Duff-Gordon was a widely acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion industry public relations. In addition to originating the "mannequin parade", a precursor to the modern fashion show, and training the first professional models, she launched slit skirts and low necklines, popularized less restrictive corsets, and promoted alluring and pared-down lingerie.

Opening branches of her London house, Lucile Ltd, in Chicago, New York City, and Paris, her business became the first global couture brand, dressing a trend-setting clientele of royalty, nobility, and stage and film personalities. Duff-Gordon is also remembered as a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and as the losing party in the precedent-setting 1917 contract law case of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, in which Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo wrote the opinion for New York's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, upholding a contract between Duff-Gordon and her advertising agent that assigned the agent the sole right to market her name. It was the first case of its kind; clothes were labelled and sold at a lowered cost in a cheaper market under an expensive "brand name".

The Titanic episode is one of the most prominent aspects of Lucy Duff-Gordon's life, thanks partly to motion pictures. The films, however, portrayed her without great attention to accuracy. She has been portrayed by Harriette Johns in A Night to Remember (1958); by Rosalind Ayres in James Cameron's epic Titanic (1997); and by Sylvestra Le Touzel in the British miniseries Titanic (2012). She is also a key character in the novel The Dressmaker, by Kate Alcott, which portrays both the sinking of the Titanic and the negative publicity that followed for the Duff-Gordons.

Lucy Duff-Gordon had another close call three years after surviving the Titanic, when she booked passage aboard the final voyage of the RMS Lusitania. It was reported in the press that she cancelled her trip due to illness. The Lusitania was sunk by a German torpedo on 7 May 1915.

Just Finished Reading: Wanderers – A History of Women Walking by Kerri Andrews (2020) [263pp] 

This was an ideal ‘coupling’ with my previous walking book, so I was more than a little pleased to pick it up for a song at my (excellent) local Charity shop. Covering the lives and walks of 10 famous female authors this was often an eye-opening read. The author is both a keen hillwalker and a senior lecturer in English Literature so had (both) feet in each camp.  

Of the 10 authors I’m afraid that I’d only heard of (and read) 3 of them – Virginia Woolf, Anais Nin and Cheryl Strayed. In my ignorance I hadn’t realised that the poet Woodsworth had a sister equally as obsessed in walking their local environment (especially in the Lake District) as he was. The others – Elizabeth Carter, Ellen Weeton, Sarah Stoddart Hazlitt, Harriet Martineau, Nan Shepherd and Linda Cracknell were all completely new to me. 

They were, to say the least, an INTERESTING bunch of women. Not only were many accomplished authors of their time they were also accomplished walkers much to the astonishment and exhaustion of male friends, family and the larger society. Women walking LONG distances, especially on their own, was viewed as quite bizarre – radical even. Despite this (or maybe a little because of it) they managed walking tours or eye-watering length in Scotland, the North of England or (in Cheryl Strayed’s case) the Pacific Crest Trail. 

One woman who particularly interested me was Ellen Weeton, an early 19th century Lancashire governess and hill climber. She was born in Upholland near Wigan which is where my sister presently lives and not too far from where I spent most of my formative years (11-23). Despite not having a private income (like so many of the other early examples in the book) she still managed to ‘bag’ numerous hills shaking off any male guides or company that might slow her down or prevent her from exploring mid-trek. She sounded like quite the formidable character! 

The only (slight) ‘criticism’ that I had with this was the sometimes-over-enthusiastic focus on a few of the listed women to the detriment of narrative flow. It's certainly forgivable but I felt that just a little more restraint would have helped tighten things up a bit. Apart from that (very) minor niggle I found myself liking this very much indeed. If you’re a walker, interested in rather eccentric people (there’s plenty in here for everyone), or want to delve into some of the other aspects of authors/poets lives then this is a book for you. Recommended. 

Happy Birthday: Mary Debra Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. She starred in the films An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Terms of Endearment (1983), and Shadowlands (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Winger won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment, and the Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress for A Dangerous Woman (1993).

Winger's other films include Urban Cowboy (1980), Legal Eagles (1986), Black Widow (1987), Betrayed (1988), The Sheltering Sky (1990), Forget Paris (1995), and Rachel Getting Married (2008). In 2012, she made her Broadway debut in the original production of David Mamet's play The Anarchist. Winger starred in the Netflix original television series The Ranch from 2016 to 2020. She received a lifetime achievement award at the Transilvania International Film Festival in 2014.

[I LOVED her in Legal Eagles which was one of my fave 80's movies. Such a delight on screen...]

Happy Birthday: Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto.

Her family arranged several marriages for her that advanced their own political position, including to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro and Gradara, Count of Cotignola; Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno; and Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Alfonso of Aragon was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples, and tradition has it that Lucrezia's brother Cesare may have had him murdered after his political value waned.

Notorious tales about her family have cast Lucrezia as a femme fatale, a controversial role in which she has been portrayed in many artworks, novels, and films.

Lucrezia was described as having heavy blonde hair that fell past her knees, a beautiful complexion, hazel eyes that changed colour, a full, high bosom, and a natural grace that made her appear to "walk on air". In another description, the author wrote that "her mouth is rather large, the teeth brilliantly white, her neck is slender and fair, and the bust is admirably proportioned." These physical attributes were highly appreciated in Italy due to the similarity of her description with that of the Roman goddess of arts and war, Minerva.

Since her death, several rumours surrounding Lucrezia have persisted, primarily concerning the nature of the extravagant parties thrown by the Borgia family. One example is the legendary Banquet of Chestnuts. Many of these allegations concern accusations of Lucrezia's involvement in incest, poisoning, and murder. For example, it was rumoured that Lucrezia was in possession of a hollow ring that she used to poison drinks. However, no historical basis for these accusations exists, beyond the attacks of her enemies.

[I've been interested in Lucrezia since watching the 1981 BBC series The Borgias where she was played by Anne-Louise Lambert. With some luck I'll be reading about her and her notorious family later in the year.]

Happy Birthday: Cerys Elizabeth Matthews MBE (born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the "Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.

Matthews now hosts a weekly music show on BBC Radio 6 Music, a weekly blues show on BBC Radio 2, and from 2021-2024 co-hosted a weekly show on BBC Radio 4, Add To Playlist, which won the Prix Italia and Prix Europa 2022. She also makes documentaries for television and radio and was a roving reporter for The One Show. She founded "The Good Life Experience", a festival of culture and the great outdoors in Flintshire in 2014, and is author of Hook, Line and Singer, published by Penguin Books, and children's stories Tales from the Deep and Gelert, A Man's Best Friend, published by Gomer. Matthews' illustrated version of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood was published, in November 2022, by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Catatonia were formed in 1992, after Matthews met Mark Roberts. She subsequently sang lead vocals on, and co-wrote the music and lyrics for, the band's hits. Songs she co-wrote included "You've Got a Lot to Answer For", "Mulder and Scully", "Dead from the Waist Down", and "Road Rage". Matthews also played guitar on the earlier material before second guitarist Owen Powell joined the band. She also performed a single with the band Space named "The Ballad of Tom Jones", which tells the story of two lovers who want to kill each other, but then hear a Tom Jones song that defuses their homicidal feelings. Matthews later collaborated with Jones to record a version of Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on Jones's 1999 album Reload. Matthews was voted the "Sexiest Female in Rock" in a 1999 readers' poll in the now-defunct magazine Melody Maker.

After Catatonia's rise to fame with their second album International Velvet, and subsequent success with Equally Cursed and Blessed, the band returned in 2001 with their fourth studio album, Paper Scissors Stone. In September 2001, the band officially split.

[I saw Cerys sing at Glastonbury in 2000 when she supported The Pet Shop Boys. My friend at the time (who is Welsh) was a HUGE fan of hers and he passed some of that on to me. They were a fun band while they lasted.]

Happy Birthday: Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American pianist, singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice. Rolling Stone named Simone one of the greatest singers on various lists.

The sixth of eight children born into a respected family in North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a local fund set up in her hometown, she enrolled at Allen High School for Girls, then spent a summer at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, preparing to apply for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She failed to gain admission to Curtis, which she attributed to racism. She remained musically active until her death in 2003, a day or two after the institute awarded her an honorary degree.

Early in her career, to make a living, Simone played piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. After making her debut with Little Girl Blue in 1958, she went on to record more than 40 albums up to 1974. She released her first and biggest hit single in the United States in 1959 with "I Loves You, Porgy", which peaked inside the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Simone became known for her work in the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s, and she later left the United States and settled in France following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. She lived and performed in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In 1991, Simone published her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You (taking the title from her famous 1965 album), and she continued to perform and attract audiences until her death.

[I *think* I 'discovered' her - and fell in love with her amazing voice - when watching the Luc Besson French noir thriller La Femme Nikita as the assassin was obsessed with her music and played it LOUD all the time. Brilliant.]

Happy Birthday: Lucrezia de' Medici (14 February 1545 – 21 April 1561).

[I was struggling to find a birthday person this week until I came across this tragic creature.]

She was a member of the House of Medici and by marriage Duchess consort of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from 1558 to 1561.

Married to the intended husband of her elder sister Maria, who died young, her marriage was short and unhappy. The Duchess died of pulmonary tuberculosis, but almost immediately after her death there were rumors that she had been poisoned on the orders of her husband. That suspicion inspired the English poet Robert Browning to create a dramatic monologue in verse "My Last Duchess" (1842).

Born in Florence on 14 February 1545, Lucrezia was the fifth child and third daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence (and from 1569 Grand Duke of Tuscany), and Eleanor of Toledo. Her paternal grandparents were the famous condottiere Giovanni delle Bande Nere and Maria Salviati (granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent). Her maternal grandparents were Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Viceroy of Naples, and Maria Osorio, 2nd Marchioness of Villafranca del Bierzo. Lucrezia was named after her great-grandmother Lucrezia de' Medici (1470–1553) (mother of Maria Salviati).

From childhood, Lucrezia's parents sought suitable marriage candidates for their daughters. From 1549 to 1550, it was planned that Lucrezia would be married to Don Pedro de Aragona y Cardona, 3rd Duke of Montalto. Then in 1552 she was betrothed to Fabio Dal Monte, a nephew of Pope Julius III, but the engagement was canceled after the death of the Pope in 1555.

In 1557, as a sign of reconciliation between Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (who held a pro-French position), and King Philip II of Spain, it was decided that Alfonso d'Este, Hereditary Prince of Ferrara, would marry Maria de' Medici, the eldest daughter of Cosimo I, an ally of Spain. However, Maria died shortly thereafter and Lucrezia took her place.

Once in Ferrara, the already frail Duchess spent almost all her time in her rooms. Less than a year after her arrival, on 21 April 1561, she died, after suffering a month of fever, severe weight loss, constant coughing and a permanently bleeding nose. According to Dr. Andrea Pascvali, sent from Florence to the Duchess by her father, Alfonso was concerned about Lucrezia's state of health during the entire period of her illness. An autopsy by the same doctor revealed that the Duchess had died of "putrid fever"; modern historians believe that her death was caused by pulmonary tuberculosis. Despite this, after her death, there were rumors that she had been poisoned.

Shocked at the death of the young Duchess, Bronzino dedicated a posthumous sonnet to her. Lucrezia is also the heroine of the dramatic monologue in verse, "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning, first published under the title "Italy" in 1842, and under the more well-known title in 1845. She is also the subject of the 2022 novel The Marriage Portrait by award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell. Inspired by Browning's poem, her marriage to Alfonso is the subject of Gabrielle Kimm's 2010 novel His Last Duchess.

Happy Birthday: Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich (27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) was a German-American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly seven decades.

In 1920s Berlin, Dietrich performed on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola Lola in Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930) brought her international acclaim and a contract with Paramount Pictures. She starred in many Hollywood films, including six iconic roles directed by Sternberg: Morocco (1930) (her only Academy Award nomination), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus (both 1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil Is a Woman (1935). Throughout World War II, she was a high-profile entertainer in the United States. Although she delivered notable performances in several post-war films, including Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958), and Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), she spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a marquee live-show performer.

Dietrich was known for her humanitarian efforts during World War II, housing German and French exiles, providing financial support and advocating their American citizenship. For her work on improving morale on the front lines during the war, she received several honors from the United States, France, Belgium, and Israel. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich the ninth greatest female screen legend of classic Hollywood cinema.

Just Finished Reading: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (FP: 2022) [386pp] 

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist and a good one. She knows it, her colleagues know it and the head of the Institute knows it – especially after she produces some groundbreaking work. But Elizabeth has a few things against her – she has yet to finish her PhD, she’s attractive and, worst of all, she’s a woman in very much a man’s profession. It is, after all, late 1950’s America. It wasn’t long until she clashed with the star of the Institute, a fellow chemist who had been nominated for the Nobel Prize. Sparks flew, arguments raged, and, eventually, respect grew. Before long they had scandalised the Institute and the local community by moving in together – the rent was much cheaper that way – but almost before they knew it, he was dead and she was pregnant. With a child to support and no longer employed by the Institute Elizabeth needed a job, any job, FAST and a mixture of blind luck and desperation provided it. She had, by sheer accident, impressed a struggling TV producer with her cooking skills. Cooking was, after all, just applied chemistry. For more money than she could imagine she would be hosting her very own show – Supper at Six. But it would be HER show. She’d been assured of that fact. She would wear what she wanted, cook what she wanted and use advertisers that she respected. She also wouldn’t be treating her target audience – housewives – as idiots. But then she was used to flying sparks, arguments and arbitrary barriers placed in her way. She would be having none of that... 

I first caught wind of this on YouTube by watching clips from the Apple TV series starring Brie Larson as Elizabeth. It looked fun, different, interesting. Now I’ve read the book I can see that some elements of the show have been changed or removed (although I can’t be 100% sure on this account as I haven’t seen anywhere near the whole thing!) which I can understand. I was actually rather surprised that there’s a fair bit of tragedy in the story – both in Elizabeths (and her partners) childhood as well as in her adult life. There are also rather adult themes (sex, homosexuality, suicide, sexual assault) that I really didn’t get from my clip watching. They certainly didn’t detract from the story of Ms Zott and actually deepened her character in a number of significant ways. Elizabeth is, indeed, a fantastic creation. I can see why she was SO disruptive in that time period (late 50’s/very early 60’s) and why so many people found her frustrating, but I also understand why her partner and her (few!) friends loved her SO much. Her daughter (played by Alice Halsey in the series) was very much a chip off Elizabeths block in just about every way. One thing I didn’t see in any of the clips was the family dog (intriguingly called ‘six thirty’) who was a significant, and often hilarious, presence throughout. I do hope that he got some screen time. He was (again) a great character. 

I zoomed through this excellent novel rapidly and found myself more than once forcing myself to slow down in order to savour things. Although a little different than expected (tragedy etc..!) it was still very much a highlight of the year and yet another 4-5 star read. I hope that the author pens another (maybe a sequel that, undoubtedly, her publishers are badgering her for!) which would be an auto-buy for me. Highly recommended for anyone wanting a bloody good read. The more sensitive amongst you will need a tissue (or two) handy for the sad bits – but you’ll definitely be laughing out loud too! 

Happy Birthday: Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter, and keyboardist of rock band Evanescence. A classically trained pianist, Lee began writing music at age 11 and co-founded Evanescence at 13, inspired by various musical genres and film scores from an early age. Lee has participated in other musical projects, including Nightmare Revisited and Muppets: The Green Album, and composed music for several films, including War Story (2014), Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015), and the song "Speak to Me" for Voice from the Stone (2017). She has also released the covers EP Recover, Vol. 1 (2016), the soundtrack album to War Story, the children's album Dream Too Much (2016), and collaborated with various artists including Korn, Seether, Bring Me the Horizon, Lindsey Stirling, Body Count, Wagakki Band, Halsey (singer), Poppy, and Courtney LaPlante.

Alongside her awards and nominations with Evanescence, Lee's other accolades include: the Songwriter Icon Award from the National Music Publishers Association (2008); Best Vocalist at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards (2012); Rock Goddess of the Year at Loudwire Music Awards (2012); Best Film Score by the Moondance International Film Festival for Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015); and the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in Independent Film for "Speak to Me" (2017). In 2012, VH1 named Lee one of the top 100 greatest women in music. Lee is the American chairperson for the international epilepsy awareness foundation Out of the Shadows, and in 2012 was honored with United Cerebral Palsy's Luella Bennack Award for her work.

Happy Birthday: Susanna Mary Clarke (born 1 November 1959) is an English author best known for her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2004), a Hugo Award-winning alternative history. Clarke began Jonathan Strange in 1993 and worked on it during her spare time. For the next decade, she published short stories from the Strange universe, but it was not until 2003 that Bloomsbury bought her manuscript and began work on its publication. The novel became a best-seller.

Two years later, she published a collection of her short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories (2006). Both Clarke's debut novel and her short stories are set in a magical England and written in a pastiche of the styles of 19th-century writers such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. While Strange focuses on the relationship of two men, Jonathan Strange and Gilbert Norrell, the stories in Ladies focus on the power women gain through magic.

Clarke's second novel, Piranesi, was published in September 2020, winning the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction.

In January 2024, she stated that she was currently working on a novel set in Bradford, England.

Happy Birthday: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms as president from 1933 to 1945. Through her travels, public engagement, and advocacy, she largely redefined the role. Widowed in 1945, she served as a United States delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952, and took a leading role in designing the text and gaining international support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1948, she was given a standing ovation by the assembly upon their adoption of the declaration. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.

Roosevelt was, in her time, one of the world's most widely admired and powerful women. Nevertheless, in her early years in the White House she was controversial for her outspokenness, particularly with respect to her promotion of civil rights for African Americans. She was the first presidential spouse to hold regular press conferences, write a daily newspaper column, write a monthly magazine column, host a weekly radio show, and speak at a national party convention. On a few occasions, she publicly disagreed with her husband's policies. She launched an experimental community at Arthurdale, West Virginia, for the families of unemployed miners, later widely regarded as a failure. She advocated for expanded roles for women in the workplace, the civil rights of African Americans and Asian Americans, and the rights of World War II refugees.

Following her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt pressed the United States to join and support the United Nations and became its first delegate to the committee on Human Rights. She served as the first chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights and oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Later, she chaired the John F. Kennedy administration's Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. By the time of her death, Roosevelt was regarded as "one of the most esteemed women in the world"; The New York Times called her "the object of almost universal respect" in her obituary. In 1999, Roosevelt was ranked ninth in the top ten of Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century, and was found to rank as the most admired woman in thirteen different years between 1948 and 1961 in Gallup's annual most admired woman poll. Periodic surveys conducted by the Siena College Research Institute have consistently seen historians assess Roosevelt as the greatest American first lady.

Happy Birthday: Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of Gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Bible fiction. She is best known for writing The Vampire Chronicles. She later adapted the first volume in the series into a commercially successful eponymous film, Interview with the Vampire (1994).

Born in New Orleans, Rice spent much of her early life in the city before moving to Texas, and later to San Francisco. She was raised in an observant Catholic family but became an agnostic as a young adult. She began her professional writing career with the publication of Interview with the Vampire (1976), while living in California, and began writing sequels to the novel in the 1980s. In the mid-2000s, following a publicized return to Catholicism, she published the novels Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, fictionalized accounts of certain incidents in the life of Jesus. Several years later she distanced herself from organized Christianity, while remaining devoted to Jesus. She later considered herself a secular humanist.

Rice's books have sold over 100 million copies, making her one of the best-selling authors of modern times. While reaction to her early works was initially mixed, she gained a better reception with critics in the 1980s. Her writing style and the literary content of her works have been analyzed by literary commentators. She was married to poet and painter Stan Rice for 41 years, from 1961 until his death from brain cancer in 2002 at age 60. She and Stan had two children, Michele, who died of leukemia at age five, and Christopher, who is also an author.

Rice also wrote books such as The Feast of All Saints (adapted for television in 2001) and Servant of the Bones, which formed the basis of a 2011 comic book miniseries. Several books from The Vampire Chronicles have been adapted as comics and manga by various publishers. She authored erotic fiction under the pen names Anne Rampling and A. N. Roquelaure, including Exit to Eden, which was later adapted into a 1994 film.

Happy birthday: Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. All five of her albums have reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200 since 1996, and as of 2021, she has sold over 15 million records worldwide. Apple has received numerous accolades, including three Grammy Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and a Billboard Music Video Award. Three of her albums appear on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

The youngest daughter of the actor Brandon Maggart, Apple was born in New York City and was raised alternating between her mother's home in New York and her father's in Los Angeles. She studied piano as a child and began writing songs when she was eight years old. Her debut album, Tidal (1996), comprises songs written during her teens, and won Best Female Rock Performance at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards for its single "Criminal". Her second album, produced by Jon Brion, When the Pawn... (1999), was met with critical acclaim, and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

For her third album, Extraordinary Machine (2005), Apple again collaborated with Brion and began recording the album in 2002. Apple, however, was reportedly unhappy with the production and opted not to release the record, leading fans to protest Epic Records, erroneously believing that the label was withholding its release. The album was eventually re-produced without Brion and released in October 2005. The album was certified gold, and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. In 2012, she released her fourth studio album, The Idler Wheel..., which received critical praise and was followed by a tour of the United States, also receiving a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Apple's fifth studio album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020), won two Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Performance for the lead single "Shameika."

[I *think* I first came across Fiona Apple on holiday playing in a store (on CD!!).. One of the first things I did when I got back was to buy her entire back catalogue. I think she's AMAZING.]

Happy Birthday: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (née Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and women's rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary's mother died 11 days after giving birth to her. She was raised by her father, who provided her with a rich informal education, encouraging her to adhere to his own anarchist political theories. When she was four, her father married a neighbour, Mary Jane Clairmont, with whom Mary had a troubled relationship.

In 1814, Mary began a romance with one of her father's political followers, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married. Together with her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, she and Percy left for France and travelled through Europe. Upon their return to England, Mary was pregnant with Percy's child. Over the next two years, she and Percy faced ostracism, constant debt and the death of their prematurely born daughter. They married in late 1816, after the suicide of Percy Shelley's wife, Harriet.

In 1816, the couple and Mary's stepsister famously spent a summer with Lord Byron and John William Polidori near Geneva, Switzerland, where Shelley conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein. The Shelleys left Britain in 1818 for Italy, where their second and third children died before Shelley gave birth to her last and only surviving child, Percy Florence Shelley. In 1822, her husband drowned when his sailboat sank during a storm near Viareggio. A year later, Shelley returned to England and from then on devoted herself to raising her son and her career as a professional author. The last decade of her life was dogged by illness, most likely caused by the brain tumour which killed her at the age of 53.

Until the 1970s, Shelley was known mainly for her efforts to publish her husband's works and for her novel Frankenstein, which remains widely read and has inspired many theatrical and film adaptations. Recent scholarship has yielded a more comprehensive view of Shelley's achievements. Scholars have shown increasing interest in her literary output, particularly in her novels, which include the historical novels Valperga (1823) and Perkin Warbeck (1830), the apocalyptic novel The Last Man (1826) and her final two novels, Lodore (1835) and Falkner (1837). Studies of her lesser-known works, such as the travel book Rambles in Germany and Italy (1844) and the biographical articles for Dionysius Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1829–1846), support the growing view that Shelley remained a political radical throughout her life. Shelley's works often argue that cooperation and sympathy, particularly as practised by women in the family, were the ways to reform civil society. This view was a direct challenge to the individualistic Romantic ethos promoted by Percy Shelley and the Enlightenment political theories articulated by her father, William Godwin.

Happy Birthday: Gillian Leigh Anderson, OBE (born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama television series The Fall, sex therapist Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix drama series The Crown. Among other honours, she has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has resided in London since 2002, after earlier years divided between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Born in Chicago, Anderson grew up in London, UK and Grand Rapids, Michigan. She graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, then moved to New York City to further her acting career. After beginning her career on stage, she achieved international recognition for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on the American sci-fi drama series The X-Files. Her film work includes the dramas The Mighty Celt (2005), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Shadow Dancer (2012), Viceroy's House (2017) and two X-Files films: The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). Other notable television credits include: Lady Dedlock in Bleak House (2005), Wallis Simpson in Any Human Heart (2010), Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (2011), Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier on Hannibal (2013–2015), and Media on American Gods (2017).

Aside from film and television, Anderson has taken to the stage and received both awards and critical acclaim. Her stage work includes Absent Friends (1991), for which she won a Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer; A Doll's House (2009), for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award, and a portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (2014, 2016), winning the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress and receiving a second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress. In 2019, she portrayed Margo Channing in the stage production of All About Eve for which she received her third Laurence Olivier Award nomination.

Anderson has supported numerous charities and humanitarian organizations. She is an honorary spokesperson for the Neurofibromatosis Network and a co-founder of South African Youth Education for Sustainability (SAYes). She was appointed an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016 for her services to drama.

Happy Birthday: Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style.

Born in Helena, Montana, Loy was raised in rural Radersburg and Helena. She relocated to Los Angeles with her mother in early adolescence and trained as a dancer in high school. She was discovered by production designer Natacha Rambova, who organized film auditions for her. She began obtaining small roles in the late 1920s. Loy devoted herself fully to acting after a few roles in silent films. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934). The role helped elevate her reputation and she became known as a versatile actress adept at both drama and comedy; she would reprise the role of Nora Charles five more times.

Loy's performances peaked in the 1940s, with films like The Thin Man Goes Home, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. In the 1950s she appeared in a lead role in the comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), as well as supporting roles in The Ambassador's Daughter (1956) and the drama Lonelyhearts (1958). She appeared in eight films between 1960 and 1981, after which she retired from acting.

Although Loy was never nominated for an Academy Award, in March 1991 she received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her life's work both onscreen and off, including serving as assistant to the director of military and naval welfare for the Red Cross during World War II, and a member-at-large of the U.S. Commission to UNESCO. In 2009, The Guardian named her one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. Loy died in December 1993 in New York City, at age 88.