Hen, Mistress of Mayhem

Name: Hen, Mistress of Mayhem
Price: 62.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781837051090

A Portrait of Henrietta Moraes

Darren Coffield, Sarah Lucas

$62.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

The History Press Ltd
02 April 2026

Biography: arts & entertainment; Biography: historical, political & military; Social & cultural history; Gender studies: women; Alternative lifestyles

Paints a vivid portrait of a hell-raising companion and Bohemian legend.

Henrietta Moraes first discovered Soho when she was eighteen or so she tells us. Her favourite sport was social climbing (heaven knows she enjoyed the exercise) and she was good at it, going to all the right parties and simply gate-crashing others. From the summit of the 1950s bohemian scene she surveyed the life and times of those who broke all the rules, such as the artists Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon (for whom she became a muse). But that's not all she did as a key counter-culture figure in the 1960s Chelsea Set, no other woman was more indefatigable in becoming a bohemian legend.

Through Hen, you'll learn how to steal your best friend's boyfriend; enchant and ensnare a husband; blossom into a magnificent muse; dress like a comic book superhero; become a connoisseur of every illicit drug known to medical science and dose a Rolling Stones concert with them; join the caravan set and head along the gypsy trail in search of the Holy Grail, before rematerialising as the minder for a mind-blowing pop icon

Along the way you'll indulge in the gentle art of cadging drinks; the feline felony of cat burglary; the canny craft of charity shop shoplifting and the haphazardness of steamy sex in second-hand bookshops.

Hen, Mistress of Mayhem takes you to the epicentre of Soho's Golden Age; stage by stage it forms a complete guide to a hell-raising companion.

AUTHOR: Darren Coffield was born in London in 1969. He studied at Goldsmiths College, Camberwell School of Art, and the Slade School of Art in London, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Art in 1993. He has exhibited widely in the company of many leading artists, including Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Patrick Caulfield and Gilbert and George. In 2014, Darren Coffield was specially selected by the jurors of 100 Painters of Tomorrow as an artist who has made a significant contribution to the painting scene today. He is the author of Tales from the Colony Room (2021) and Queens of Bohemia (2024).

35 b/w illustrations

By: Darren Coffield
Foreword by: Sarah Lucas
Imprint: The History Press Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781837051090
ISBN 10: 1837051097
Publication Date: 02 April 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

DARREN COFFIELD studied at Goldsmiths College, Camberwell School of Art, and the Slade School of Art in London, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Art in 1993. He has exhibited widely in the company of many leading artists, including Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Patrick Caulfield and Gilbert and George. In 2014, his contributions were recognised by ‘100 Painters of Tomorrow’. He is the author of Tales from the Colony Room: Soho’s Lost Bohemia (2020) and Queens of Bohemia (2024).

Reviews for Hen, Mistress of Mayhem: A Portrait of Henrietta Moraes

'Moraes lived like a flame: vividly, destructively, and ultimately self-destructively. There are people of whom it is impossible to approve, yet impossible not to be glad they lived.' - Matthew Parris -- Matthew Parris 'Henrietta was a delightfully disturbing mixture of the devil and the divine. Her force of nature lives in this book.' - Maggi Hambling -- Maggi Hambling