Desert Island Discs - Molly Parkin

Kirsty Young's castaway is the doyenne of bohemian living, Molly Parkin.

She left the Welsh valleys to train as a fine artist in London and was a successful painter then teacher before becoming a fashion writer and novelist. She is as well known, though, for her lifestyle as her work. She adopted a hedonistic approach to life - smoking and drinking through the night and picking up numerous lovers along the way.

Now aged 79 she prefers to live alone and says she has found a calmer way of living. "I have been blessed, and made it my business, to surround myself with larger than life characters," she says, "love, on a very profound level comes unexpectedly and brilliantly."

Record: Good Golly Miss Molly
Book: The History of the Colony by Sophie Parkin
Luxury: Her entire outfit including her Andrew Logan brooch

Producer: Leanne Buckle.

Published on Sunday, 8th May 2011.

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