Award-winning
independent publisher Candy Jar Books is delighted to announce the upcoming
publication of the debut novel by Carry On actress, Angela Douglas.
Josephine: An Open Book is a
powerful and compelling story of a young woman’s journey to stardom and the
trials and tribulations of showbusiness and celebrity. Set against the backdrop
of London’s 1960s, her paths cross with the likes of Kirk Douglas, Steve
McQueen Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Neil Armstrong.
Though
a work of fiction, the novel draws extensively on Angela Douglas’ own
experiences, weaving a story which is at its very heart, universal in its
themes: love, loss, the breakdown of a marriage and the decline of health.
Josephine is ultimately an uplifting memoir of determination and conviction in
the face of adversity, and is sure to resonate with the reader.
Angela
Douglas is best known as an actress and for her roles in the iconic Carry On
feature film series. Throughout the 1960s and ’70s she made numerous
appearances in theatre, film and television, including the iconic series: The
Avengers, The Saint, Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Doctor Who, Holby City
and Coronation Street.
In 1962 she met the British movie icon,
Kenneth
More. They fell in love and married in 1968, remaining together until
More’s death in 1982.
In
1988 she met acclaimed director and playwright, Bill Bryden. They married in
2009.
Josephine
is Angela’s first work of fiction, having already worked as a journalist and
author, writing two non-fiction titles, including her autobiography Swings
and Roundabouts, which received great praise from audience and critics
alike.
Angela in Carry On Cowboy |
As
Angela put it herself, Josephine’s life is set in a world she knows
well:
“I
have described Josephine as ‘made up truth’. Many of the characters with
whom Josephine meets are famous names because they are lifted from real-life
experiences of my own. Josephine and I share many things, but there are also
many differences... She is very much her own woman, and she finds herself in a
lot of scrapes and circumstances, which I luckily did not. Josephine is an
ambitious, fiercely independent bundle of energy who never settles for less
than she deserves. As her father says: “when she was little she tried to ride
the rainbow. Her ambition was up high….her reality was at times down there.”
What
parts of Josephine’s life are based on truth and what are a work of fiction?
That’s what you’ll have to determine for yourself…”
Candy
Jar’s Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell, explains the book’s rare appeal:
“Josephine
has so much for a reader to enjoy. There’s the genuine insight into life of
an aspiring young actress, struggling for expression and self-fulfilment in an
industry often more interested in exploiting such ambition; a timely theme if
there ever was one, and based on life. And most of all, an emotionally honest,
compelling, and moving central story. That’s at the heart of everything:
Josephine herself, a strong, vivacious woman won’t settle for the life she’s
been given, but instead shoots for the moon. Does she make it? You will have to
find out…”
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