Following up her 2020 bestseller The Paris Model, fashion historian-turned-novelist Alexandra Joel’s new offering, The Royal Correspondent will only add to her fast-growing reputation as a master storyteller who cleverly peppers her fiction with real characters and incidents from history, bringing eras of yesteryear vividly to life.
Alexandra Joel
This is the story of sassy Sydney working-class girl Blaise Hill, determined (in 1960) to make a successful journalism career for herself despite the then blatant, ingrained societal limitations for woman. After a rough start at the bottom rung of the ladder, she finally scores a plum assignment, travelling to London to cover the wedding of the decade – that of Princess Margaret and the womanising Tony Armstrong-Jones. Remaining on Fleet Street to report on royal events and the Crown’s social calendar opens a whole new world to Blaise who, nonetheless, dreams of tackling ‘real news’ and getting a front-page by-line.
As she makes connections that may assist her in this improbable goal, a dark and dangerous secret from her past is threatened to be revealed and her romantic choices between two men with secrets of their own further complicate her ambitions and her very safety. At the same time, she begins to not just uncover but become embroiled in the story of Christine Keeler and the famous Profumo spy scandal which threatens (and ultimately did) lead to the fall of the Macmillan government.
The Royal Correspondent shines a light on the lot of a 1960s journalist, particularly the frustrating challenges then faced by women. Along the way readers will, no doubt, remain captivated by Joel’s multi-strand plotline, sure to delight all lovers of historical fiction and gripping intrigue.
—The Royal Correspondent by Alexandra Joel (HarperCollins Australia) is out on the 3rd of February.
The Royal Correspondent
Success would depend on taking a dangerous risk.
When Blaise Hill, a feisty young journalist from one of Sydney's toughest neighbourhoods, is dispatched to London at the dawn of the swinging sixties to report on Princess Margaret's controversial marriage to an unconventional photographer, she is drawn into an elite realm of glamour and intrigue.
As the nation faces an explosive upheaval, Blaise must grapple with a series of shocking scandals...
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