This book has not been out of print since it was published in 1983. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in 1983, by Pan 1985, by Pavanne 1988, re-published 1993, by Blackstaff in 1996. Now published as a Modern Classic by Virago (2003).

"Caught between the flat mysterious lands of the aerodrome - forbidden and alien territory looming around our doorstep - the dead-end of the graveyard and the vast soughing of the water, the children in the book live in a left-over atavistic world, generations away from the rest of the post-war world of Britain, out of kilter with the chronology of the century. We were like preserved, resurrected relics from an earlier age, characters from a science-fiction story in which everything has been frozen and then rocketed through the slipstream of time into a thinner, more exhausted future where our present is everywhere else long past. We became enmeshed in our own myth, the secret mythology of sisterhood; and, although we did not then know it, we were already enmeshed in the larger mythology of Ireland and being Irish, engaged in the strange battle between natives of a place and yet having no security or power in that place."

The wildflowers of England are in rapid decline; almost one in five - 345 species - are under serious threat and nearly 100 more are under pressure. The past half century has been a disaster for plant life in the UK. In that time 98% of our wild flower meadows have been destroyed. This account of a year in the life of one of the few remaining meadows is glamorous, fierce, factual, joyous, celebratory and tragic. It is also educational and a warning. The meadow it depicts is a thing of such beauty as to make a heart melt and it is now uncommonly rare. Where most meadows in England contain about five or six varieties of grass, this one has one hundred and thirty plus thousands of orchids. It also supports species of butterflies that are highly endangered and birds that have disappeared in other parts of the country.
In high season the meadow lies, a dream of beauty, in its barren surroundings of rye-grass and silage grass, glowing every colour under the sun, like the background to those miraculous mille-fleur tapestries where birds and rabbits sit and scamper in stunning, strewn, paradisiacal fields spattered and scattered with plants and flowers of every size and hue. It makes one understand that the great tapestries of the Middle Ages are not an artist’s dazzling inspiration of the celestial fields, but an accurate representation of what he saw around him and which still exists in pockets of England. The plants and flowers shown in the book were picked and pressed and photographed as they appeared and in the process the authors record something sublime that has almost vanished and which once made England one the most beautiful places on earth.

Published by Gollancz in 1983, by Methuen in 1985 and by Mammoth, new edition 1999 by O'Brien Press. (Incidentally published on the same day as All of Us There by another publisher (Weidenfeld). Neither have been out of print since.)

"Relevant and enduring for today's readers, young and old, this collection is a marvellously crafted rendition of a way of life which has vanished, but a way of living which sustains. Polly Devlin's writing shows a mastery of style and an ability to infuse the everyday with the resonances of a lifetime. How stories should be written... instinct with fierce life." The Times

"A book of great distinction." Neil Philip,British Book News

"A superb book, not out of place or quality for adult readership...A remarkable introduction to a story as it should be written." Books for Keeps

Published in 1979 by Thames & Hudson and Simon & Schuster. Italian French and German editions.

"Elusive, evanescent, striking, passionate and, above all, representative of the times, fashion presents an elegant and challenging subject to the best of photographers. Here, in one beautiful volume, is a collection of the best fashion photography to appear in Vogue, the world's leading fashion magazine for three generations. This extraordinary array of photographs displays the development of a unique art form and at the same time reveals the changing styles of the twentieth century and the transformation of the modern woman. This collection provides a rare opportunity to study the evolution of dress, behaviour and attitudes in our society, and to appreciate the development of the art of fashion photography and its principal subject, the image of woman." Alexander Liberman

Published by Chatto and Windus 1990, by Arrow Books 1991, serialised on Radio 4.

Dora, the central character of this novel would refuse the epithet 'heroine' - Dora believes her aim in life is to be ordinary. But then, Dora has lived under many a delusion. Fighting free of them is part of her sentimental education. Dora is the story of every woman who tries to be grown up, the itinerary of one modern woman who makes a career out of living. Looking back over her childhood in Ireland, her wild days in London, her comfortable marriage, the apocalyptic meeting with her lover, Dora finally discovers a thing or two: about herself, about passion, about love and duty, about having her cake and eating it, and most of all about the endless shifts of the heart.

"Dora is provocative, infuriating and irresistible. This is her rich and resonant story, wittily chronicled with seductive energy." The Irish Times

"I have circulated Dora among my most serious reader/writer women friends and they are stunned by her." JL, San Diego

"An impressive talent for acute insight, le mot juste and an infectious enthusiasm for the infuriating but irresistible Dora." TIME OUT

A Guide book. Published by Mitchell Beazley 1996.

"Polly Devlin, honoured with an OBE, has known and travelled Ireland for many years. Her dual life, shared between homes in London and Dublin, gives her an insight into the unique character of her own country. Funny and personal, expert and colourful, this is not just a guide book to the surface of Dublin but a revealing look at the life and history behind the city.

When she went to live in Dublin Polly Devlin realised that even though she loved the city she knew little about it. So she set out to know its every stick and stone. This is the result."

"Pinpoints precisely the details you need to know... concisely and intelligently." The Washington Post

Published by O'Brien Press 1998 and 2000. A Book of Essays.

"Nobody sees things quite like Polly Devlin. Her writing is witty, entertaining, spontaneous and idiosyncratic, with the ability to nudge your vision of the world into a slightly different skew. In this collection she writes about lost dogs, Venetian palaces, married life, her Irish background, police brutality, rooks nesting, a museum in Paris, shopping with daughters - things from a small world that somehow involve the world at large. The writing is fresh and lively and full of an endearing capacity to be surprised by life and its chance happenings."

Written for the National Gallery, Ireland to give the visitor an introduction to The Ceramics Room and the world of ceramics in general.

"Devlin displays no mean knowledge of ceramics and their history, but the fact that life in general is the real fodder o her imagination enables her to produce here so lively a welcome to the collection. If visits to The Room are noisier in the future, they will be more truly educational for that. Devlin manages to transmit to the reader the humour with which the craftsman (Chinaman, English man or Irish man) communicated his view of the world and at the same time, her own sense of the honest potter's dignity and her respect for the skill and feeling that went into the making of these objects. She also gives to the visitor to the museum who has little or no previous knowledge of ceramics, dynasty or social history, just enough factual information to illuminate and enliven, never once putting us through the tedium of technical and historical data for their own sake. The reader is held by the genuineness of her own interest and enthusiasm, by her ability to experience the craftsman in the artefact and to animate the still life in clay. God bless you, Ms Devlin. Please let's have more." Crafts Magazine