My name is Donella Campbell. I’ve been on a journey for the past several years. I wouldn’t like to tell you how long. Ask me what I was doing and why, and my answer is that I suddenly rediscovered Dusty Springfield after she had been missing from my life for decades.

Something triggered my memories of Dusty and I started obsessively scouring YouTube for her recordings. Who was Dusty? I wanted see behind the mask.

I decided to discover every detail I could find about Dusty before she was famous and write about it. My  intensive and meticulous research uncovered details not just of Dusty’s life but of the times and places and people of her growing up.

My book covers Mary’s life from her first years in High Wycombe and her convent school in Ealing to her first jobs after school, and performances in West End clubs. It follows as she joins the Lana Sisters and learns the realities of life as an entertainer. Then, it describes the three years she spent as a member of the Springfields before the launch of her solo career.

I aim to show who Dusty was, where she came from, and what made her.

Available now from Amazon