Louise Levene is the author of A Vision of Loveliness, a BBC Book at Bedtime, which was also longlisted for the Desmond Elliott first novel prize, Ghastly Business and The Following Girls. She is the dance critic of the Financial Times and writes for the Spectator. She has also been an advertising copywriter, a window dresser, a radio presenter, an office cleaner, a crossword editor, a university tutor, a college professor and a saleslady. Louise Levene lives in London with her husband and their two children.
For the perfect piece of Bank Holiday escapism, look no further ... A whip-smart comedy, chock-full with glamour, secret agents and sun-drenched Californian orange groves - seriously, what could be more heavenly? * Saga * Brilliant * Spectator * [Levene] fires out a wisecrack a page ... Very much satire in the Evelyn Waugh vein * Express * A book to set you up for summer? This hyper-witty, sharp-eyed escapist comic thriller will hit the holiday spot with style. Read it slowly. Levene's elaborate epithets and contrived gags are not to be gobbled down. In fact, her dazzling whip-smart dialogue and acid asides make Dorothy Parker sound like a dullard. This is a novel of exquisite creative vignettes, colourful, charming and outrageous in turns ... [A] bold evocation of a golden world * Jewish Chronicle * She writes with such energy and panache * Barbara Trapido * Levene is a zesty storyteller and a master of the needle-sharp one-liner * Sunday Telegraph * Levene has a pitch-perfect ear for dialogue * Observer * Levene's sharply observed comedy mixes affectionate satire of the stylistic oddities of the time with an invigorating sparkle of real dislike for authority -- Jane Shilling * Evening Standard * A seamless knack for drawing characters that fully inhabit their historical setting * The Lady * Levene is a gifted writer with a cinematic way with words * Sunday Express *