Why write a biography? It only pins you down. Suffice to say I was born in Africa. And already that’s seeing the world without its skin. My father was the local gynaecologist. My mother was born in Strasbourg. My grandmother lived with us. In many ways I loved my childhood, but not in others. I would have been cheating myself if I hadn’t left to study English literature in Britain. That was my feat of daring that altered the landscape of my life. Before the term started, I went to Paris, like all would-be artists and authors. It was spring. I was full of day-dreams, imagining myself capable of extraordinary insights and creativity. It was a time when everything seemed possible. I could laugh at it now, but it propelled me to develop some of those qualities. In Paris, I fell in love and got engaged, but in the bleak, cold winter of my first term at Edinburgh, I broke it off. I got a First class MA Honours and the Janet Christie Bequest to study abroad. So, I drove to Florence with a friend and lived in an old farmhouse for 8 months, learning Italian, studying at the British Institute. In the slipstream of my life I imagined that I would be a great writer, another Virginia Woolf, have the perfect family, be the best mother. My path was a journalism, a single mother of one daughter. My writing included campaigns to save a brutalised lioness in northern Italy, Hebridean seals at risk, endangered and slaughtered leatherback turtles in Tobago, and premature babies at Dulwich hospital in dire need of incubators. I covered news, travel, and then big interviews with iconic figures in the public eye. Freddie Mercury, Angelina Jolie, Amy Winehouse, George Michael, Bono, and literally hundreds more. I walked away from journalism to live in Venice and write my first novel, Behind the Mirror. My second, All the People We Are, is set on the Cycladic island of Folegandros. The third, The Shed, is set in Berlin through WW2, and Southern Rhodesia in the 60’s. My literary agent is Jason Bartholomew of The Bks Agency.
EX-007 Pierce Brosnan will take part in some potentially heart-stopping steamy sex scenes with a Spanish beauty half his age in his next movie. Brosnan, 64, plays an American colonel with a dodgy ticker who falls for a Venetian Countess in wartime Italy. Maria Valverde, 31 – who appeared in Exodus: Gods And Kings – … Continued
FEW rock stars create a buzz quite like Bono and now he is set to take it to a whole new level – by keeping his own bees. The U2 singer and his wife Ali Hewson want to become self-sufficient by producing honey and growing fruit and veg at home in Co Dublin. On a … Continued
Actress Michelle Keegan is all smiles as she makes a big impression in Hollywood… well, at Universal Studios, at least. The star of Army drama Our Girl held hubby Mark Wright’s hand on a theme park trip in California, where he is a correspondent on TV entertainment show Extra. They have been househunting in LA … Continued
Our girl star Michelle Keegan is only following hors d’ouevres as she heads off alone after an LA lunch with hubby Mark Wright. And Michelle, 30, could be set to hang up her dog tags for good as she tries out a Hollywood posting to support Mark in his career. Our exclusive photos of the couple come … Continued
Bodyguard on dramatic intervention Daniel Craig’s bodyguard has told of the terrifying moment he wrestled a knife-wielding maniac away from Bond girl Monica Belucci. Muscular Mino Zangrando stepped in to protect the Italian actress while he was looking after her on a trip to Venice. The crazed fan ran towards Monica – who played an … Continued
Our Girl star and hubby to be together more in 2018 Michelle Keegan has a simple New Year’s resolution – to see more of her husband Mark Wright. Pals of the Our Girl actress say she is delighted they are reunited for Christmas after eight months apart. Mark has been in America trying to carve out … Continued
Frederick’s is in pedestrianised Camden Passage, a cobbled street with antique stalls and continental-style cafés. But when you step into the rather plush eatery, you’re suddenly in a more sedate, enclosed world. It’s discreet, the service is smooth, there are white tablecloths and properly spaced tables. Frederick’s is family-run, a local institution of 50-odd years, … Continued
CALL the Midwife’s Helen George is campaigning for real-life delivery nurses’ “amazing” work to be recognized. She told of their care when her baby Wren was born three weeks early in September. The actress, 33, revealed she had a liver disorder while pregnant with her daughter but added: “I wasn’t worried. I was surrounded by the most … Continued
