This chapter sets out Eileen’s early life and education prior to going to university. It shows how her family’s decision to settle in the North East of England was based on the need for stability for the young family. This location also led to Eileen attending a fee-paying school in Sunderland, run by the progressive head mistress, Miss Ethel Ironside. In the context of the years immediately after the First World War, Ironside recognised the need for the girls to be readied for lives where they could earn a living wage rather than relying on marriage to support them. The chapter shows how Eileen embraced all the opportunities the school offered, becoming a popular sports captain as well as editor of the school journal. This glimpse of her early writing shows how she came to develop a distinctive style of writing that favoured whimsy and quirky exaggeration.