Born Angela Stalker in Eastbourne in 1940, she studied at Streatham & Clapham High School from (1951-1958). "Carter" is one of the 5 houses at the school
Throughout her childhood she read voraciously. Despite her wide reading she did not do well enough in examinations at school to win a place at university but went to work as a journalist, apprenticing at the Croydon Advertiser. She moved west and entered Bristol University to read for a degree in English.
She was often described as a ‘magical realist’, combining fantasy with clear descriptions which enabled realistic telling of unrealistic events. Carter was one of the most stylish English prose writers of the age. David Holloway, the former literary editor of The Daily Telegraph, called her ‘the Salvador Dali of English letters’. In 2008, The Times ranked Carter tenth in their list of ‘The 50 greatest British writers since 1945’.
An English Heritage blue plaque has recently been placed at 107 The Chase, Clapham, where she lived