Carry On Star Angela Douglas Releases Debut Novel

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…”