{"title":"Gail Hewlett","description":"\u003cp\u003eDive into the captivating world of Gail Hewlett, where thrilling mysteries and suspenseful plots await. Perfect for fans of gripping tales and compelling characters. Start your next adventure here.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"old-bird-the-irrepressible-mrs-hewlett-book-gail-hewlett-9781848763371","title":"Old Bird. The Irrepressible Mrs Hewlett","description":"For a mother to teach her son to drive is perhaps not so unusual, but for her to teach him to fly? Given that the year was 1911, that was most likely a first. But Hilda B. Hewlett had already achieved a first in the world of aviation. Three months earlier she had become the first English woman to gain a pilot’s licence.  How was it that the middle-aged wife of a well-known author came to be counted among the early aviation pioneers? A daughter of the vicar of an impoverished parish in South London, Hilda Beatrice Herbert was born in 1864 and married Maurice Hewlett, a barrister in Antiquarian Law, in 1888. He aspired to be a writer and Billy, as Hilda was affectionately known, encouraged him.  When, ten years later, he published his best seller, a romantic historical novel, The Forest Lovers, the Hewletts began to enjoy unimaginable prosperity and Maurice was on his way to becoming a full-time writer and a member of the literary London scene. Billy, meanwhile, was acquiring a reputation for unconventionality.  She already drove and maintained her own car, but it was whilst watching a new-fangled contraption of an aircraft rise and fly above a muddy field that Billy was fired with an all-consuming desire. To own and fly just such a machine she was prepared to endure cold and hunger, boredom and poverty. It was a venture that was to take her into aircraft manufacture throughout WWI and to settle her, eventually, as Old Bird – her grandchildren only ever knew her as Old Bird – in New Zealand.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49759762809105,"sku":"GOR007420053","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51183594176785,"sku":"GOR004433604","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53157107335441,"sku":"GOR012743255","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1848763379.jpg?v=1751155159"},{"product_id":"old-bird-rare-book-gail-hewlett-1719307883iev","title":"Old Bird","description":"2010. No Edition Remarks. 319 pages. Signed by the author. Paperback book with pictorial cover. Signed by the author with dedication to title page. Pages remain clear with minimal tanning and foxing.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50090726228241,"sku":"1719307883IEV","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1719307883IEV_1.jpg?v=1722941283"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-gail-hewlett.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}