She Too

A novel about reputation, defamation, the exercise and abuse of power - and the pursuit of a fragile truth.

At age twenty-eight, Romola Cross is already jaded by her work as a criminal defence lawyer in Sydney. In the aftermath of her father's death, she decides to reinvent herself, and blindly accepts a position at prestigious Melbourne law firm Bassett Brown. She soon finds herself in a place where the clients are household names, and the stakes are higher than she could have possibly imagined.

Patrick Payne is the only son of famed property tycoon Malcolm Payne. After years spent in his father's shadow, Patrick is trying his luck in politics. But when Patrick's girlfriend Hana is found dead in his home, the media accuse him of being an abusive partner, drawing comparisons with the death of his teenage sweetheart many years earlier. At the insistence of his father, Patrick sues for defamation.

With his reputation in tatters, Patrick becomes Romola's first client. Under the watchful eye of a narcissistic supervising partner, Romola sets out to defend his reputation. Drawn into the Paynes' life of privilege, and torn by conflicting family and client loyalties, Romola confronts the question of how to prove Patrick is a good man without sacrificing all that she holds dear.

This whip-smart legal thriller is a thought-provoking commentary on the intersection between law and celebrity. She Too takes an unflinching look at the illusory nature of truth, guilt and innocence - and their manipulation by the media, the wealthy, and each one of us, depending on what we want to believe.

About the Author

Eve is a lawyer specialising in commercial litigation and defamation, providing regular pre-publication advice to some of Australia's leading print and online publishers. Eve's debut novel was developed at the Curtis Brown Creative (London) selective six-month novel-writing course, followed by mentorship from Commonwealth Book Prize winning author Lisa O'Donnell. Eve is mother to two young children and lives with her family at the beach in Adelaide, South Australia.