The life of Gordon Langley Hall was full of mystery and riddled with rumour and scandal. The illegitimate son of two servants at Sissinghurst Castle, (home of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson), he became the unexpected recipient of an American heiress's millions. He went on to become an author, writing several biographies including that of the eccentric English actress Margaret Rutherford (Miss Marple). But then he surprised his contemporaries by moving to Charleston, South Carolina, having a sex change, and reinventing himself as Dawn Langley Hall. The mystery deepened when Dawn married a young black mechanic in the racially charged atmosphere of South Carolina in the 1960s. Then she appeared in the streets of the town apparently pregnant and was seen several months later pushing a child in a pram...In this rollercoaster tale, Edward Ball, winner of the American National Book Award, unravels the mysteries surrounding this truly unique life.