Alexandra Joel – författare

A model for Christian Dior in postwar Paris discovers astonishing secrets about herself and the famous people around her in this lush debut novel.Raised on a vast Australian sheep farm, the stunning Grace Woods is compelled to travel to tumultuous postwar Paris to start a new life. While working as a glamorous model for Christian Dior, the world''s newly acclaimed emperor of fashion, Grace mixes with counts and princesses, authors and artists, diplomats and politicians. Amongst those she befriends are Pablo Picasso, Julia Child, and the future Jackie Kennedy.But when Grace falls in love with the handsome Phillippe Boyer, she doesn''t know that he is leading a double life, nor that his past might hold secrets and lies that will turn her life upside down.Based on a true story, The Paris Model is an unforgettable tale of glamour, family secrets, and heartbreak in the vein of Kathleen Tessaro''s international bestseller, Elegance.

The author of The Paris Model captures the glamour, style, excitement, and romance of a bygone era in this sumptuous novel—set in the Sydney and London of the 1960s—about an up-and-coming young Australian reporter with a deadly secret. Breaking into the newspaper business in 1960s Sydney—a competitive world dominated by hard-edged men—isn''t easy for a woman. But Blaise Hill is far from ordinary. The only female in The Clarion''s newsroom, her long-held dream of being a reporter has come true. Blaise isn''t chasing stories just to make a name for herself; she''s helping support her family and her beloved sister Ivy, whose life has been transformed by polio.But the ambitious young journalist''s confidence is shaken when she secretly witnesses the murder of a top crime boss—a death that rocks the Sydney underworld. One of the few people who knows what really happened—and what Blaise knows—is the handsome, enigmatic Adam Rule, who helps cover up the murder. When she gets a plum assignment—moving to England to cover the British royal family—Blaise hopes to put it all behind her. Carving her own path among the scandal and intrigue of the Swinging Sixties in London, life is just about perfect—until the night she attends Queen Elizabeth''s gala in honor of the upcoming nuptials of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones. Among the exclusive crowd is the last man she ever wanted to see—Adam Rule. Is Blaise''s dark secret coming back to hurt her—or is this the beginning of something far more dangerous? In this mesmerizing novel, Alexandra Joel brings to life the thrilling, colorful world of 1960s Sydney and London, when fashion, music, society, and even the royal family rode the waves of change—and a spirited, ambitious heroine dared to make her way in a man''s world.

The scandalous Australian woman who enchanted British society Headstrong and beautiful, in 1905 Rosetta escaped her safe Melbourne life, deserting her respectable husband and five-year-old daughter to run away with Zeno the Magnificent, a half-Chinese fortune teller and seducer of souls.The pair reinvented themselves in London, where they beguiled European society and risked everything for a life of glamour and desire. Rosetta said she was American; Zeno claimed to be a brilliant Japanese professor. Together they attracted the patronage of famous writers, inventors and scientists, lords and ladies, dukes and duchesses. Empress Eugenie, the widow of Napoleon III, and Princess Charlotte, sister of Germany’s last Kaiser, were among their greatest devotees.Rosetta revelled in a life few women of her time would have dared to embrace, yet all the while she hid her secret shame: the daughter she had left behind.This is the compelling story of Alexandra Joel’s quest to uncover the truth about her scandalous great-grandmother, and the shocking century-old secret she would discover at the heart of her family.

The sweeping new saga of strong heroines and family secrets from the bestselling author of The Paris Model. While searching for her lost sister, art historian Wren Summers takes on the glittering world of New York's auction houses.A missing girl, a hidden masterpiece, and the search for the truth1965: After escaping from anti-war turmoil and the suffocating weight of family expectations, a beautiful young couple embrace a life free of materialism and tradition by a sapphire lake in Italy. But the past does not always let go so easily ...1987: When talented art historian Wren Summers lands her dream job at the Sydney Art Museum, it seems she can finally leave her wildly unconventional background behind - until a treacherous act threatens everything she has strived for.The revelation of a monstrous family secret sees Wren head to New York, compelled to find the missing girl who holds the key to this shocking mystery - and to make a fresh start in the glittering realm of international art auctions. As she struggles to fulfil her quest, can she navigate this new, high-stakes world of swirling temptation, romance and deceit, danger and betrayal, while staying true to what she knows is right?Praise for Alexandra Joel:'A mesmerising storyteller' The Australian'Exceptional research and great storytelling ... She has that rare flair for drawing the reader into sumptuous worlds from glamorous bygone eras' Better Reading