I grew up in the seaside town of Margate England with four
brothers including three on the web: Matthew
Alexander, Greg Alexander, Steven
Alexander who are all painters as was our
father, Chris.
On leaving Margate, I moved to the Midlands and then Cambridge. In 1991, in need of adventure, I headed off with a backpack finally settling in Nice France where with the exception of a brief, exciting stint in New York, I have lived ever since.
After being refused by truly every publisher in the world, I self-published my first novel 50 Reasons to Say Goodbye in 2003. Encouraged by its success, I wrote and published four sequel novels: Sottopassaggio (2005), Good Thing/Bad Thing(2006), Better Than Easy(2009) and Sleight of Hand(2010) as well as a standalone novel, 13:55 Eastern Standard Time(2007).
My self published 2011 title The Case Of The Missing Boyfriend reached #1 in Amazon’s UK chart and gained me my first proper publishing contract with Corvus-Atlantic who also republished the entire 50 Reasons series and the sequel to The Case Of The Missing Boyfriend, The French House which sold more than 200,000 copies.
My 2012 novel The Half-Life Of Hannah, though mysteriously refused for publication by Corvus, again, once self published, reached number one and sold over 275,000 copies, and the paperback rights were subsequently purchased by Black and White Publishing. Black and White are also publishing the Hannah sequel entitled Other Halves in both ebook and paperback, so I seem, finally, to be on a bit of a roll. Long may it last!
I also edit and contribute to the gay lit website, BIGfib.com
I currently spend half my time in Nice, and the other half in a cabin in the French Alps where I get bored enough to actually concentrate on writing. But whenever I can, I jump on a plane or a train to London, my favourite city in the world.
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The Photographer's Wife
From the author of the #1 bestsellers, The French House, The Half-Life of Hannah and The Case of The Missing Boyfriend, Alexander’s new novel, The Photographer's Wife is an epic tale set in two eras, a tale of the secrets one generation has, rightly or wrongly, chosen to hide from the next.
Barbara – a child of the Blitz – has more secrets than she cares to admit.
She has protected her children from many of the harsh realities of life and told them little of the poverty of her childhood, nor of the darker side of her marriage to one of Britain's most famous photographers.
With such an incomplete picture of the past, her youngest, Sophie, has struggled to understand who her parents really are, and in turn, Barbara sometimes worries, to build her own identity.
When Sophie, decides to organise a vast retrospective exhibition of her adored father's work, old photos are pulled from dusty boxes. But with them tumble stories from the past, stories and secrets that will challenge every aspect of how Sophie sees her parents
Barbara – a child of the Blitz – has more secrets than she cares to admit.
She has protected her children from many of the harsh realities of life and told them little of the poverty of her childhood, nor of the darker side of her marriage to one of Britain's most famous photographers.
With such an incomplete picture of the past, her youngest, Sophie, has struggled to understand who her parents really are, and in turn, Barbara sometimes worries, to build her own identity.
When Sophie, decides to organise a vast retrospective exhibition of her adored father's work, old photos are pulled from dusty boxes. But with them tumble stories from the past, stories and secrets that will challenge every aspect of how Sophie sees her parents
My Review
I read ‘the Half life of Hannah’ and
thoroughly enjoyed it so was very much looking forward to reading this one.
First of all, it is a completely different kind of book, set in wartime Britain
as we discover Barabara’s childhood, through to the present day and her daughter
Sophie. Once again it is very well written with just the right amount of detail
and superbly drawn characters. As Sophie decides to launch a retrospective of
her father’s photographic career, secret after secret is unfolded at just the
right moment. The denouement won’t be a total shocker to the reader as the
writer has given enough hints yet will come as a total shock to Sophie. Trying
to find out more about her father, she perhaps discovers more than she really
wanted to know. I won’t say any more as I don’t want to spoil it.
4.5/5
