Vivien Greene, doll collector, author and wife of late novelist Graham Greene, has died aged 98.

Mrs Greene, who separated from her husband but never divorced because of her strong Catholic beliefs, lived in Iffley, Oxford, for more than 40 years.

She married Oxford University graduate Mr Greene, a journalist with The Times, at St Mary's Catholic Church, Hampstead, in 1927.

The young Vivienne Dayrell-Browning, as she was then, had spent the previous two years refusing Mr Greene's marriage proposals. He managed to win her heart by turning his back on atheism and converting to Catholicism.

In the years that followed, Mr Greene, who died in 1991, had numerous affairs. The couple had a son and daughter, but separated in 1948.

Mrs Greene began devoting her life to the collection and restoration of dolls' houses.

Such was her interest that she became known as an expert and wrote several publications.

In 1998, some of her dolls' houses were sold because, at the age of 93, she could no longer look after them and did not want them to lie covered in dust.

Mrs Greene has been described by friends as "vehemently outspoken, and never one to cross".

When pursuing her hand in marriage, Mr Greene told her: "You carry magic with you always -- it is in your eyes and your voice, and your long dark hair, and your whiteness."