Clara Margery Melita Sharp was born Salisbury, Wiltshire. She attended Chiswick House High School in Malta in 1912-1913, and Streatham Hill High School 1914-1923. In 1925 she went to Bedford College, earning a general arts degree and then a BA in French.
She studied art for one year at Westminster Art School. After school she became a full-time writer, writing short stories and working on a novel.
In 1938 she married Major Geoffrey Castle, an aeronautical engineer. During World War II she served as an Army Education Lecturer, travelling and lecturing and continuing to write.
She produced 26 novels for adults, 14 stories for children, 4 plays, 2 mysteries, and many short stories.
Her most famous work is The Rescuers series about a mouse named Miss Bianca, which was adapted in two animated feature films, The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under.
Image ©National Portrait Gallery