Before she achieved world-wide fame for her charming, yet peril-laden novels, Dorothy Gladys Smith first tried her hand as an actress in London’s unforgiving West End. At a slight 5ft, she found little success treading the boards, so, in need of funds, she (somewhat reluctantly by all accounts) took a ‘humdrum’ day job at London’s famous Heal and Son’s store on Tottenham Court Road.

The ambitious and bohemian Dorothy — or Dodie, as she was known to her friends — dreamed of becoming a writer, but her job selling toys and other small gifts at Heal’s would, unbeknownst to the young shop worker, actually be her gateway to international stardom.

(Image credit: Country Life Image Archive)

(Image credit: Country Life Image Archive)

Three years after beginning work at the store, Smith and Sir

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