In the novel Elephants Can Remember, Celia Ravenscroft is the daughter of Alistair and Margaret Ravenscroft. She is the goddaughter of Ariadne Oliver.
When Celia was a child, Mrs Oliver used to take her out from school. Celia remembers that Mrs Oliver gave her lovely food, and Mrs Oliver remembers that Celia was an unusual child, because she liked caviar.
Celia remembers that Mrs Oliver had sent her nice presents, and a particularly nice one when she turned twenty-one. She liked that Mrs Oliver did not ask her questions, and simply took her to shows, gave her nice meals, and talked to her as though everything was all right and she was a distant relation of the family.
Celia and her brother, Edward, had a governess named Mademoiselle Rouselle. They called her "Maddy" for short. After Mlle Rouselle returned to Switzerland, they had another governess, Zélie Meauhourat. Celia and Edward would often play with the children from neighbouring houses, including Desmond Burton-Cox.
Celia tells Poirot that she was "a great hero-worshipper" when she was young. She admired and remembered Desmond because he had been good at climbing trees, and had taught her about birds and birds' eggs.
Celia is a tall girl, and gives one a very strong impression of vitality and life. Mrs Oliver gets the impression that Celia is aggressive, and could be difficult, or perhaps even dangerous. She is of the opinion that Celia is one of "those girls who had a mission in life, who was dedicated to violence, perhaps, who went in for causes".
Celia was not at Overcliffe at the time her parents died. She cannot remember exactly where she was at the time, whether she was at school in Switzerland, or staying with a school friend over the holidays. The holiday before that, she had been away on exchange on the Continent, so she had not seen her parents very recently before they died, and she knew very little about what things were like at home. Her parents had come to Switzerland and taken her out from school once or twice, but other than that she had not seen them.
Celia tells Mrs Oliver that she wants to know what really happened to her parents, because she is of an age now where she wishes she did know. She says that she thinks about it all the time, and if she knew she would not have to think about it any more.
Celia is close friends with Desmond Burton-Cox, and they are considering getting married. Celia tells Mrs Oliver that she is very fond of Desmond, and he is very fond of her. However, Celia does not like Desmond's mother, Mrs Burton-Cox.
Her address in 1968 was 14 Fishacre Mews, S.W.3, Chelsea. Later she moved to Strand-on-the-Green, near Kew Bridge. Still later she lived at Mardyke Grove.