Caroline Davidson's biography
Born in 1953, Caroline spent her childhood in several different countries, including the Netherlands, Egypt, Tunisia, Belgium, and Laos. She read history at King’s College, Cambridge and joined Reuters News Agency in London as a trainee journalist.
On moving to Washington DC in her mid-twenties, she worked for BBC Television and edited publications for both the National Academy of Sciences and the Library of Congress. Among the books she helped to edit, the most complicated was a survey of science in China written by thirty two authors, organised by the US National Academy of Sciences and published by Stanford University Press.
Returning to Britain in 1982, Caroline organised exhibitions for the Victoria and Albert Museum (the kitchen at Ham House) and the National Museum and Galleries on Merseyside (the early impact of Australia in Liverpool).
Caroline was a founding director of Prospect Books, specialist publishers of historical and ethnic books on food and cookery.
This helped to inspire her to set up her literary agency in 1988.
She is the author of five books, including 'A Woman’s Work is Never Done: A History of Housework in the British Isles, 1650–1950' and 'The World of Mary Ellen Best' (Chatto & Windus, 1982 and 1986).
Caroline is married, with two adult children and lives in West London.
Reading Tastes
If you want to know more about Caroline's taste in books, you can read about the agency books on this website. You can also read some of Caroline's reflections on her reading, and follow the CDLA blog which gives a regular snapshot of the agency's reading habits.