My first French book festival! I’m excited and slightly daunted to be attending the Polar Lens festival in March to publicise Les Roses Noires and Le Jardin d’hiver. Daunted because A level French seems a long way away but excited to get a glimpse of an entirely different book buying public. So if anyone happens to be near Lens that weekend, please drop in…  http://www.polarlens.fr/wordpress/auteurs-present-polarlens/

I’m pleased to announce that Faith and Beauty is part of Kindle’s August promotion – just 99p this month. Ideal reading for beach, bath or bed! Just cut and paste or click on the link to find it….

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faith-Beauty-captivating-intrigue-survival-ebook/dp/B00TUPI5LW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1470211527&sr=1-1&keywords=Faith+and+Beauty

I’m looking forward to a number of upcoming events this Autumn …

Friday, September 16th: Waterstones Piccadilly. Writing Evil: Fiction and the rise and fall of Nazi Germany: I’ll be talking about the rise and fall of the Third Reich and its portrayal in fiction with Michael Ridpath (Shadows of War), William Ryan (The Constant Soldier) and Jason Hewitt (Devastation Road). We’ll  discuss our versions of life inside Nazi Germany from a variety of narrative angles, ask where the line between fact and fiction lies, and how novels can help us to understand the repercussions of Europe’s darkest hour.

Sunday September 18th: Chiswick Festival. 3pm: Professor Adrian Stevens is joined by authors Jane Thynne (Faith and Beauty) and James MacManus (Midnight in Berlin), as they discuss their individual explorations of this attempt on Hitler’s life and consider the appeal of capturing in their fiction the evocative sense of place that Berlin creates.

Monday, September 19th: Chiswick library. Berlin in Fiction.

Saturday, October 15th: Isle of Wight literary festival. I’ll be giving an illustrated talk called The Real Housewives of Nazi Germany exploring the lives of the Nazi wives and girlfriends, their influence on the politics of the Third Reich and the research and inspiration behind the Clara Vine series.

I had an interesting trip to Hornsey Town hall today as part of a TV documentary on Nazi women. The venue was chosen because of its remarkable 1930’s architecture, but while aspects of it are faintly redolent of the Third Reich, there is far more to this north London building. It’s tucked away in an underwhelming forecourt and at first glance it appears both neglected and ugly, yet as the first UK building to be constructed in the Modernist style (1933), its interior finishes, marble, wooden panelling and especially the lovely metalwork, are beautiful and inspiring. Well worth a look if you’re nearby.

We had a great evening at the Philip Mould gallery in Pall Mall, surrounded by glamorous portraits, to launch the paperback version of Faith and Beauty in the UK. Midway through the party Philip mentioned his fascinating discovery that the building which houses his gallery had, in the late 1930s, been the official Nazi travel bureau for journeys to the German Reich. It felt as though the past was reaching out to tap us on the shoulder! Here I am pre-party with Philip and Catherine Mould.

Glamour alert! Here is the cover for the French edition of The Winter Garden, on sale from this month. Impossibly chic, isn’t it?