Belinda Alexandra's Books
The Masterpiece
A wartime betrayal, a race against time ... and a secret hidden in a painting
Paris 1946: A young woman, Eve Archer, has come to Paris to find the father she never knew. She is soon caught up in a desperate race to prove her father's innocence against the accusation that he sold a French national treasure to Hitler during the war, and murdered the original owner to obtain it.
Her efforts uncover the complicated friendship between two art dealers and the woman they both loved, a Russian artist named Kristina Belova.
Emboldened: On finding the fire to keep going when all seems lost
How do you begin your life again when you’ve lost everything you’ve worked for and your dreams have been shattered?
That was the question I faced one freezing winter night when she ran from her home in terror, clutching only her wallet, her phone and her latest manuscript on a USB stick.
To pull herself up from rock bottom, Belinda drew strength from the real-life women who had inspired her bestselling historical fiction: her mother, Tatiana Morosoff, a White Russian who had fled a home more than once due to wars and revolutions; Virginia Hall, an American who lost her leg in an accident but went on to become one of the most revered Allied agents in World War II France; Carmen Amaya, who despite being born into abject poverty in Barcelona rose to become the greatest Flamenco dancer of all time; Edna Walling, who lost her own dream home in a freak fire but created garden designs that made her one of Australia’s most celebrated landscape designers.
They were women who had faced seemingly insurmountable challenges and found ways to forge ahead on their own terms. In a compelling and exquisite blend of memoir and history, Belinda shows readers that, no matter what challenge they might be facing, there is always the possibility of building a bold life full of meaning again from the ashes.
The French Agent
A world in chaos. Two very different women. And the mystery of the man who may connect them
Paris 1946: Sabine Brouillette is a war crimes investigator with the French secret service. She lost her family, including her young son, when her Resistance circuit was betrayed near the end of the war. New evidence comes to light that the traitor was a British double agent who went by the codename 'the Black Fox'. Now her quest for revenge has a single focus: find the Black Fox and kill him.
Sydney 1946: Landscape designer Diana White has been waiting six years for her husband, Casper, to return from the war in Europe. Her son, Freddy, was only a baby when his British-born father joined the RAF. But Casper is a changed man when he returns from the convalescent hospital in England where he has spent the past year under mysterious circumstances. No longer the easygoing personality Diana fell in love with, he is now darker and more secretive.
Soon Sabine and Diana find themselves on a collision course - one seeking vengeance, the other willing to go to any lengths to protect her family.
The Divine Feline: A chic cat lady's guide to woman's best friend
A charming and beautifully-written gift book about cats and the women who love them, from internationally bestselling novelist Belinda Alexandra.
Cats and women share many traits: beauty, elegance, sensitivity, affectionate natures, a knack for nurturing, and a love of the luxurious. Cats also embody the feminine dark side, with a tendency towards neurosis and fear of change. Then there are the qualities that a cat possesses which women long to emulate: fighting fiercely to protect herself, never saying yes when she means no, and being unafraid to claim the best seat in the house for herself. Cats are loyal to those who love them but couldn't give a toss about what others think. They don't suffer self-esteem issues or worry if they're overweight. And then, there is that enviable air of mystery, that slinky walk… oh to be a cat! They're the ultimate totem of female strength.
Belinda Alexandra, writer and ardent cat lover, makes no apology for celebrating the special bond between women and their cats. In The Divine Feline, she details her own experiences with cats, describing the relationship between women and cats throughout history and solving some behavioural and philosophical issues in a whimsical and practical way. Viva la cat lady!
The Mystery Woman
In a small town, everyone is watching ... Secrets, scandal and betrayal in 1950s small-town Australia.
She had thought Shipwreck Bay was simply a remote town where people were bored senseless with their little lives. Now she saw its virtuous facade hid something darker, more sinister.
Rebecca Wood takes the role as postmistress in a sleepy seaside town, desperate for anonymity after a scandal in Sydney. But she is confronted almost at once by a disturbing discovery - her predecessor committed suicide.
To add to her worries, her hopes for a quiet life are soon threatened by the attentions of the dashing local doctor, the unsettling presence of a violent whaling captain and a corrupt shire secretary, as well as the watchful eyes of the town's gossips. Yet in spite of herself she is drawn to the enigmatic resident of the house on the clifftop, rumoured to have been a Nazi spy.
Against the backdrop of the turbulent sea, Rebecca is soon caught up in the dangerous mysteries that lie behind Shipwreck Bay's respectable net curtains.
The Invitation
In Gilded Age New York, money buys everything. What is your price? The latest sweeping saga from Belinda Alexandra.
Sometimes the ties that bind are the most dangerous of all ...
Paris, 1899. Emma Lacasse has been estranged from her older sister for nearly twenty years, since Caroline married a wealthy American and left France. So when Caroline invites Emma to help prepare her shy, young niece for her society debut, Emma is intrigued.
Caroline lives a life of unimaginable excess and opulence as one of New York's Gilded Age ultra-rich and Emma is soon immersed in a world of luxury beyond her wildest dreams - a far cry from her bohemian lifestyle as a harpist and writer with her lover, Claude, in Montmartre.
Emma hopes for an emotional reunion with her only family, but instead she finds herself in the vice-like grip of her charismatic and manipulative sister. As Emma begins to question Caroline's true motives, a disaster strikes, and New York society is stripped bare - beneath the glittering exterior lies a seething nest of deceit, betrayal, moral corruption ... and perhaps even murder.
Southern Ruby
Forbidden Love. Family Secrets. A Twist Of Fate.
A Stunning Generational Saga.
In New Orleans - the city of genteel old houses and ancient oak trees covered in Spanish moss, of seductive nightlife, of Creole culture, voodoo and jazz - two women separated by time and tragedy will find each other at last.
Amanda, orphaned as a child and suffering the loss of her beloved grandmother, has left Sydney in search of a family she never knew. Ruby, constrained by the expectations of society and class, is carrying a lifetime of secrets. Amanda's arrival sparks revelations long buried: a double life, a forbidden love, and a loss that cannot be forgotten.
Southern Ruby is a sweeping story of love, passion, family and honour. Alternating in time between the 1950s and the eve of Hurricane Katrina, it is also a tribute to a city heady with mystery, music, and superstition, which has borne the tumults of race and class and the fury of nature, but has never given up hope.
Sapphire Skies
A love greater than war. A beautiful woman lost. A mystery unsolved ... until now.
2000: The wreckage of a downed WWII fighter plane is discovered in the forests near Russia's Ukrainian border. The aircraft belonged to Natalya Azarova, ace pilot and pin-up girl for Soviet propaganda, but the question of her fate remains unanswered. Was she a German spy who faked her own death, as the Kremlin claims? Her lover, Valentin Orlov, now a highly-decorated general, refuses to believe it.
Lily, a young Australian woman, has moved to Moscow to escape from tragedy. She becomes fascinated by the story of Natalya, and when she meets an elderly woman who claims to know the truth behind the rumours, Lily is drawn deeper into the mystery.
From the pomp and purges of Stalin's Russia through the horrors of war and beyond - secrets and lies, enduring love and terrible betrayal, sacrifice and redemption all combine in this sweeping saga.
Golden Earrings
A Powerful Saga of Family, Love, Honour and Betrayal.
'You who judge me: come! Let me tell you a story ...'
Paloma Batton is the granddaughter of Spanish refugees who fled Barcelona after the Civil War. A disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet, Paloma lets little get in the way of her career until she receives a mysterious pair of golden earrings.
She begins exploring her Spanish heritage and becomes fascinated by 'la Rusa', a woman who rose from poverty to become one of the great flamenco dancers of modern times before committing suicide.
As Paloma begins to unravel the secrets of the past, she discovers more than one person who had good reason for wanting la Rusa dead, including Paloma's own grandmother.
Golden Earrings is a story that moves between two great cities: Barcelona in the lead-up to the Civil War and Paris in the 1970s. It is the story of two women and the extremes to which they are willing to go for love.
It is a story of great passions - and great betrayals - where nothing is quite as it seems.
Tuscan Rose
A big, luscious, can't-put-it-down novel. A story of tragedy, romance and mystery, set against the beauty of Florence in the terrifying years of Mussolini.
A tale of sacrifice and reward, of beauty and horror ... and of redemption.
A mysterious stranger known as 'the Wolf' leaves an infant with the sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is the one clue to the child's identity ...
When Rosa turns fifteen, she must leave the nuns who have raised her and become governess to the daughter of an aristocrat and his strange, frightening wife. their house is elegant but cursed, and Rosa - blessed with gifts beyond her considerable musical talents - is torn between her desire to know the truth and her fear of its repercussions. Meanwhile, the hand of Fascism curls around beautiful Italy, threatening her citizens.
In the face of unimaginable hardship, will Rosa's intelligence, intuition and her extraordinary capacity for love be enough to ensure her survival?
Silver Wattle
A dazzling novel about two exceptional sisters, set in the Australian film world of the 1920s.
In fear for their lives after the sudden death of their mother, Adela and Klara must flee Prague to find refuge with their uncle in Australia. there, Adela becomes a film director at a time when the local industry is starting to feel the competition from Hollywood.
But while success is imminent, the issues of family and an impossible love are never far away. And ultimately dreams of the silver screen must compete with the bonds of a lifetime ...
Silver Wattle confirms Belinda Alexandra as one of our foremost storytellers. Weaving fact into inspiring fiction with great flair and imagination, this is a novel as full of hope, glamour and heartbreak as the film industry itself.
Wild Lavender
A Feast for the Senses That Will Live on in the Imagination Long After the Book is Closed.
‘Nothing is wasted, Simone. the love we give never dies.'
At fourteen, Simone Fleurier is wrenched from her home on a Provencal lavender farm and sent to work in Marseille. Her life there is hard and impoverished, but Simone discovers the music hall and a dream: to one day be a famous dancer and singer. But when war threatens, Simone makes a decision that will lead to great danger - yet ultimately prove that love, just like wild lavender, can grow in the least likely of places ...
Belinda Alexandra has created a tale of passion and courage that moves from the backstreets of Marseille to the grand music theatres of Paris, from the countryside of Provence to decadent pre-war Berlin and jazz-age New York.
White Gardenia
Epic and passionate, White Gardenia will sweep you away …
'Mama, Mama,' I said to myself, 'keep safe. You will survive, and I will survive, until we can find each other again.'
In a district of the city of Harbin, a haven for White Russian families since Russia's Communist revolution, Alina Kozlova must make a heartbreaking decision if her only child, Anya, is to survive the final days of World War II.
White Gardenia sweeps across cultures and continents, from the glamorous nightclubs of Shanghai to the harshness of Cold War Soviet Russia in the 1960s, from a desolate island in the Pacific Ocean to a new life in post-war Australia. Both mother and daughter must make sacrifices, but is the price too high? Most importantly of all, will they ever find each other again?
Rich in incident and historical detail, this is a compelling and beautifully written tale about yearning and forgiveness.