Will She Do?

Will She Do? is the story of a girl from a council estate in Tottenham - born in 1934 to an electric-meter reader and a seamstress - who was determined to be an actress.Candid and witty, this memoir takes her from her awkward performances in working-men's clubs at six years of age as dancing 'Baby Eileen', through the war years in London, to her breakthrough at thirty-two on Broadway with The Killing of Sister George ; it's about family, about class, about youthful ambition, about big dreams and what really goes on behind the scenes. `Startling, candid and often disquietingly funny - Atkins proves to be a marvellous raconteur... she's never, ever dull' - Miranda Seymour, FT'Oh, those anecdotes! . . . A rollicking ride through the early career of one of our greatest acting dames' Evening Standard'Displays the emotional intelligence, acute observation, wry humour and above all honesty that distinguish Atkins's acting . . . exhilarating' Spectator'Dame Eileen Atkins has gone toe to toe with them all over a career spanning seven decades and countless triumphs' Radio TimesMade a Dame in 1991, Eileen Atkins has been on American and British stage and screen since 1957 and has won an Emmy, a BAFTA and is a three-time Olivier Award winner.