Enid Bagnold entered the world on October 27, 1889, in the quaint town of Rochester, England. Her father, a stalwart colonel in the Royal Engineers, ushered the family through a whirlwind of relocations due to his ever-changing assignments. At the tender age of nine, destiny led them to the sun-drenched shores of Jamaica. It was here that Bagnold's inner world began to unfurl. As she later reflected in her 1969 autobiography, “Beauty never hit me until I was nine.” Thus began her lifelong dance with words, a journey that would span over seventy years. By the spring of 1902, her father's military command concluded, prompting the family's return to their English roots.

The year was 1903, and Bagnold, then fourteen, found echoes of herself in her most celebrated creation, Velvet Brown from National Velvet. The novel's triumph stemmed from her vivid recollections of adolescence. Her education unfolded at Priors Field School in Godalming, England, under the guidance of the mother of the renowned author Aldous Huxley. In 1906, Bagnold left the halls of academia, venturing to Paris for a transformative year abroad.

Paris, with its vibrant tapestry of arts and culture, refined her sensibilities, deepening her appreciation for French literature. In 1907, she rejoined her family, only to embark on a new chapter in London five years hence. There, she embarked on her professional writing career, working alongside the illustrious editor and writer Frank Harris for nine enriching months, sharpening her journalistic and creative prowess. During the turbulence of World War I, she served in an English hospital and later adeptly steered vehicles for the French Army. Recording the "shocks" she faced, she published her wartime reminiscences in 1918 as A Diary Without Dates. In 1920, she married Sir Roderick Jones, the esteemed chairman of Reuters, and together they embarked on journeys to far-flung destinations. Amidst family life, graced by three sons and a daughter, Bagnold's literary output included three adult novels and in 1930, a children's treasure titled Alice and Thomas and Jane, complete with her daughter's enchanting illustrations.

Though Bagnold penned numerous works for adults, it is her 1935 novel National Velvet that immortalized her name. The tale of a fourteen-year-old girl's breathtaking triumph at the Grand National, the world's premier steeplechase, captured hearts globally. This classic not only found its way into countless editions and reprints but also inspired a beloved film, a stage production, and a television series. Although nothing she wrote thereafter attained the same acclaim as National Velvet, her play The Chalk Garden debuted on Broadway in 1956, earning the esteemed Award of Merit for Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1963, this play graced cinemas, brought to life by the talents of Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills.

In 1962, the curtain fell on her husband's life. Some months later, she immersed herself in the creation of her play, The Chinese Prime Minister. At eighty, she shared her memoirs with the world through Enid Bagnold's Autobiography. Her remarkable life came to a close on March 31, 1981.