A proposal for a drama series Spitfire Girls based on the women pilots of the World War II Air Transport Auxiliary won the enthusiastic support of Sir John,Sir John Woolf obituary, The Guardian, 1 July 1999 with actors including Janet Suzman and writers including Peter Nichols, Shelagh Delaney, and Tom Kempinski interested in becoming involved, the latter even braving his severe agoraphobia to come in to London to discuss the project. However incoming Anglia drama executive Graeme MacDonald found the theme uninspiring, and in 1988 development was cancelled. Gould was allowed to retain the rights in her treatment for the series, and attracted the keen interest of Ros de Lanerolle of the Women's Press.Carol Gould, The story of Spitfire Girls, May 2017 But the company moved away from publishing fiction, and it was finally in 1998 that Spitfire Girls appeared as a hardback novel published by Black Ace Books. A paperback edition by Random House followed in 2009.Review of Carol Gould's novel Spitfire Girls, 21 April 2010. The book was optioned the next year by Sally Head Productions, but to date remains unproduced.
