A Secret Life - Hardcover

Rantzen, Esther

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0712617450 ISBN 13: 9780712617451

Publisher: Century, 2003

Synopsis

The gripping story of woman forced to fight for the truth in a competitive world; When Suzannah Piper, TV star and media personality, is killed in a tragic car accident, many publicly grieve but few genuinely mourn. For Suzannah chose to live her life in the spotlight, and real friends are scarce in the glittering but shallow celebrity world. But investigative journalist Lucy Strong, one of the few people who knew the real Suzannah, mourns her. When, a decade ago, Lucy arrived in London a naive, insecure young girl in search of a TV career, it was Suzannah who saw her intelligence and nurtured it. It was Suzannah who taught her to play the media game. And it was Suzannah who helped Lucy to achieve her dream. Now, after her death, Lucy suddenly gets her chance to repay Suzannah, for crucial things about the night of her death don't add up. But as Lucy starts to discover the secret life that Suzannah kept from even her, she realises that Suzannah was playing a dangerous game. And soon her own life is under threat...

About this title

Review:

It's inevitable that the debut novel by such a high-profile television personality as Esther Rantzen will create something of a stir. But can her talents as a TV presenter and campaigner translate into the field of the novel? Actually, A Secret Life is successful precisely because Rantzen has been canny enough to set her book in the arena she knows best: the world of TV celebrity, in which relationships are tested by the stringent demands (emotional and otherwise) that are made on the denizens of this superficial milieu.

Journalist Lucy Strong is Rantzen’s resourceful and persistent protagonist. She knew Suzannah Piper, a media and TV star who has been killed in a car accident, and while Suzannah appeared to have many acquaintances and few friends, there is much interest in the real life she led away from the public gaze. Lucy is keen to find out the truth about her friend, and begins to dig beneath the surface of her death. She quickly finds that there are several anomalies in the star's death: Suzannah was leading a dark secret life, and dealing with some dangerous people. Before long, Lucy begins to realise that she is prying open a can of worms, with her own life under threat.

What makes A Secret Life such compelling reading is the author’s careful revelation of the layers of truth that lie beneath a carefully preserved surface--the agenda of Esther Rantzen's own TV programmes, in fact. The detail here has the ring of truth, with Lucy a strongly drawn heroine. But can Rantzen make such a strong showing as a writer when she moves into something other than her own profession? The question is academic: this book shows that intimate background knowledge of a particular world can yield some powerful results. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

'a first novel that dissects the world of television to chilling but entertaining effect' -- The Northern Echo, 13th May, 2003

'a pacy debut novel- a glamorous whodunnit set in the cut-throat world of daytime television' -- Woman's Own, 5th May, 2003

About this edition

• Publisher: Century
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0712617450
• ISBN 13: 9780712617451
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400