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In a class of her own

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JOANNA Trollope imagines a small Japanese woman in a kimono and a paper house reading her tale of a rebellious priest's wife.

The thought astounds her. Yet the six contemporary novels of this oh so English woman have been bought by a Japanese publishing house and the first to be translated is her fourth, The Rector's Wife.

Ms Trollope, who hails from a Cotswolds village and is the fifth-generation niece of Victorian writer Anthony Trollope, has risen from being a virtually unknown author of historical novels to one who topples Jeffrey Archer from the bestseller lists with her tales of middle-class lives and loves, And all in the space of 18 months.

The popularity of her works have even spawned a nickname - the Aga sagas - because of her characters' propensity to own this type of cooker.

Trying to spot her among the crowd, one looks for tweeds, twin-sets and pearls. The reality is more adventurous, yet, after reading her work and her publicity material, entirely expected.

Not a well-coiffed hair is out of place. Not a spot mars the perfectly pressed white jeans and neat gold pumps. The jacket is a black and white tweed look, silver beads stand in for the pearls.

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