EAST END JUBILEE

Out next month, my novel EAST END JUBILEE is timed for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and is by no means a royal intrigue, but more an East End drama and family conflict. The plot is set against the backdrop of the present Queen’s coronation in 1953. One of the reasons I wrote this story was because of the post-war changes to our countries and the spread of  a new dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit that my lead male figure, market trader Eddie Weaver, possesses in abundance. Unfortunately this enthusiasm gets Eddie into trouble and tests the love and trust of his nearest and dearest. The 50′s were full of such stories, one of the most famous being Rebel Without a Cause, where James Dean played a mixed-up and defiant teenager, challenging the system. My Eddie isn’t as glam or moody, or oozing Dean’s on-screen chemistry, but he’s a wheeler dealer, a Dell Boy, and has his own charm. Sadly, the police have marked his card and in the midst of all the celebration, Eddie is nicked! Now it’s down to my heroine to prove his innocence. Bring on the heavies to test her resolve and Rose Weaver either has to bow to the bad men, or – and need I say more? – fight tooth and nail to resist them. I like to think I’ve drawn inspiration from the greats;  Ava Gardner, Kim Novak, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, Kirk Douglas – the list of 50′s stars is endless. So I hope that the cocktail I serve up in EAST END JUBILEE (formerly titled Rose of Ruby Street) will do justice to this celebratory year and bring back a little of the 1950′s magic and everything that was so excitingly new and inspirational, after the seemingly endless years of war.