Sally Anne Wagstaff was born in a dour northern town

The third of six children

Her mother worked in the local supermarket and her father at the steelworks

From a young age she knew that she would not be attractive as she was pear shaped and very small

How she envied her step-sister Matilda who was tall and very pretty

At the age of eighteen she went to Oxford University

The first girl from her school to do so since 1949.

Matilda failed all her exams and ended up working in a pet shop

She married the owner the year after his wife died and in the year that her step sister graduated

Found herself to be the proud owner of Norman’s Pets after her husband died of a stroke whilst out running

The step-sisters grew close as both had an interest in dogs and when Sally Anne Wagstaff returned to the town

They started a poodle parlour together which proved just as successful as the pet shop

In her spare time Sally Anne Wagstaff began writing a book about Henry Miller and Anais Nin

When it was published it too was very successful and Sally Anne Wagstaff found herself in demand on the literary circuit

But although she had a double first and was a noted biographer she never forgot her step sister and her roots

And always travelled with Matilda and two stunning dalmations when attending literary festivals

At the age of thirty-two Sally Anne Wagstaff looked in her mirror and for the first time in her life

 And found that she had matured into a beautiful woman who was both kind and gay