Emery Bonett

Emery Bonett (2 December 1906 – 7 November 1995) was the pen name of Felicity Winifred Carter, an English author and playwright. She is best known for several mystery, suspense and detective novels written in collaboration with her husband, John Bonett, published from the 1940s-60s.

She came from a literary family: her mother, Winifred Carter, was a prolific author, as was her uncle, John L. Carter, and her aunt, Edith Carter, penned several plays.

Felicity Winifred Carter was born in Ecclesall, Sheffield, to John Carter and Winifred (née Naylor). Her father worked in his Sheffield-based family firm of manufacturing chemists, Carter and Sons Ltd.

Initial success came with A Girl Must Live, which was first serialized in Leisure magazine and later published as a novel in 1936. It was also adapted as a 1939 film of the same name, starring Margaret Lockwood.

She married John Hubert Arthur Coulson (John Bonett), at Westminster Registry Office, London on 21 January 1939. They had one son, Nicholas (Nick) John Coulson, born 2 January 1947, at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, Hammersmith, London.

She lived in Spain with her husband during her later years.

John planned the books and Emery did most of the actual writing: the partnership is described by the self-penned blurb in the Penguin edition of No Grave for a Lady:

"John and Emery Bonett met at a Spanish language class. Instead of learning Spanish they became engaged. Emery had been a repertory actress, a scene-painter, a showgirl at the Prince of Wales, the back legs of a horse, and finally a writer. She was working as an ‘extra’ in a film studio when she heard that her first novel, A Girl Must Live, had been accepted for publication. The next time she set foot in the same studio was to see the film version of the story being made.
John had been in various disreputable professions: banker, company secretary, Civil Servant, journalist, sales promotion executive. Emery found he had imagination and plot-sense as well as grammar and a distorted sense of humour, not to mention a magnificent grasp of facts – which always eluded Emery. So she brought him into the writing business... Jointly and separately they have written for radio and television, short stories, song lyrics, and film scripts."

Combined works of John and Emery Bonett

Novels (with first UK/US publishing date)

Credited to Emery Bonett:

Credited to John and Emery Bonett:

Credited to John Bonett:

BBC Radio plays (with first broadcast date)

Television (with first broadcast date)

Films

External links

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