Sheed was born in London to Francis "Frank" Sheed and Mary "Maisie" Ward, prominent Roman Catholic publishers (Sheed & Ward) in the United Kingdom and the United States during the mid-20th century. Wilfrid Sheed spent his childhood in both England and the United States before attending Downside School and Lincoln College, Oxford where he earned BA (1954) and MA (1957) degrees.
Wilfred Sheed was the novelist son of Catholic book publishers Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward. This book is a half memoir/half biography of Clare Booth Luce, who was a family friend. Luce is a fascinating character, but there are better books about her, and Sheed comes across as kind of a lech if not a leech.