Feeling the Fear

Born into the Pertwee dynasty, Carolyn soon displayed the family talent for acting and writing. Graduating with honours from RADA, Carolyn joined The Old Vic Company on its world tour and enjoyed her first big break playing opposite Vivien Leigh in Duel of Angels. Then followed a successful stint in television appearing in many dramas including Compact, a TV soap in which she played a suicidal kleptomaniac. Carolyn married Coeks Gordon and together they had two daughters. Putting her acting career on hold to concentrate on family, Carolyn turned to writing with a commission from Warner Sisters for her sitcom Rosie and Dud. Her short play, For the Love of Art, was showcased at the Battersea Arts Centre as part of a season presenting new writing. A Very Private Matter - her first full length play - was selected for the Wandsworth Arts Festival and was also performed at the BAC. Her other prize winning short plays were performed at the Soho Theatre, Bullion Room Hackney Empire, New End Theatre Hampstead. BBC Radio Four commissioned Carolyn to write The Beautiful Couple for their afternoon play slot, starring Julia McKenzie and Ronald Pickup. Reviews in the national press were glowing. In 2007 her quartet of plays, Sexologically Speaking, was a sell out at the O.S.O Arts Centre. Between Friends, a tense drama written with Rosalind Adler, followed with equal success. Carolyn wrote the book for the musical A Bowl of Cherries, performing at the Charing Cross Theatre in March 2012. Carolyn is the Joint Deputy Chair of Actors and Writers London, a 175 strong collective that puts on regular rehearsed readings. Still married to Coeks, she lives in Barnes, enjoying her other role as grandmother of four. Feeling the Fear is Carolyn's first published collection of short stories.

"Feeling the Fear is as wonderful as any Roald Dahl short story book. I enjoyed it immensely." Gary Wilmot "This great collection of short stories puts me in mind of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads - little vignettes from middle-class suburbia, each with a delicious and unexpected twist in the tale, sometimes utterly wonderful, at other times desperately tragic. I found myself moved on many occasions and definitely intrigued throughout. Carolyn gives a completely fresh perspective to old themes of love, infidelity and betrayal. But I think her best portraits by far are those of mothers - she seems to be able to describe feelings, loyalties and wishes most of us just have an instinct for. In Orphan Annie, Changing Faces and The Beautiful Couple she explores the meaning and truths of motherhood, all from very different angles. In fact Changing Faces was my favourite of all her stories - a gentle horror story unfolding in slow motion. Above all, I think Carolyn has a great love and warmth for the diversity of the human condition. Her humour, ebullience and sheer delight in the wonders of what we get up to really come across and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future." Katy Weitz on Amazon - 5 stars "I read this book of short stories almost at a sitting, as I simply couldn't put it down! Each story is totally different from the others. Some are very funny, a few are heart-breakingly moving and some involve mystery, murder and sex... I cannot wait for Carolyn Pertwee's next selection of tales. Her story 'Yesterday's Child' is one of my favourites and suggests she may now write a full-length novel, to which I look forward to reading immensely." Clive Evans on Amazon - 5 stars "This collection of short stories is an absolute gem.I bought it after listening to the author read one of the stories at my local library.It hooked me instantly.I am not normally a fan of short stories,prefering novels in which I can immerse myself in another world but the wonderful thing about these tales is that they are so vibrantly written that the characters spring instantly to life and linger in the mind long after one has finished reading.An entrancing collection. I hope Miss Pertwee produces many more." Geraldine on Amazon - 5 stars