1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE QUEEN OF FIVES
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
The Queen of Fives, a Victorian con, tells the story of Quinn Le Blanc, London’s most talented conwoman, on an audacious mission to lift the fortune of a wealthy nobleman – until she realizes she may not be the only person playing a game of grand deception…
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
There are two key settings in this book. The first is a crumbling old silk-weaver’s house in Spitalfields, East London – the headquarters for the Queen of Fives. The second is a sumptuous mansion in the heart of Mayfair – home of her unsuspecting mark, the Duke of Kendal and his wealthy, tricky family…
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes, but if Quinn had adopted a particularly ingenious disguise, I really might not know it was her!
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Loyal, honorable conwoman!
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I’d absorbed so many historical details about London in the Victorian period, but researching this book took me deeper into the devious arts and crafts of real-life fraudsters in the late nineteenth century.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I always TRY to avoid noodling around while writing a first draft, but inevitably I do rewrite and edit as I go. Especially on this book – I got stuck several times at around 20,000 words and again at 70,000, and had to go back to rework things until I could find the story…
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Crackers!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I work in the small box room at the back of the house. Or in the local library. If I’m on the road, then trains, hotel lobbies, planes, wherever!
10--Who is an author you admire?
I think the British crime writer Ruth Rendell has an extraordinary body of work. Her books are beautifully structured, forensic and clever. Ditto Kate Atkinson.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Ant and Bee and the ABC taught me to read! And reading for pleasure has been a superpower for my whole life.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Well, I missed it! My agent rang several times, and I didn’t hear the phone – I had a message saying, “PICK UPPPPP!!” We’d received a pre-empt and by the time we spoke I think we had about 10 seconds left on the deadline. So I felt sick and elated in equal measure. Once the news sank in I was over the moon. This was a lifelong ambition, and I suddenly had my dream job. It was a very very very special night indeed.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read broadly – I love crime, historical, fantasy. That upmarket / genre-bending / literary-commercial crossover is my sweet spot.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The First Wives Club.
15--What is your favorite season?
Winter for working; summer for being in London.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Dinner out with my husband – last year we went to a really cute tapas restaurant ten minutes from the house, and it was such a delightful find. It might have to become a birthday tradition.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The Song of Achilles was my book of 2024. I know I’m a million miles behind the rest of the world. I’m sorry! But it was worth the wait. What a beautiful, beautiful, heartbreaking book. The writing is perfection.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Read. Run. See my wonderful friends. Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I’m working hard on Book 3 – a mystery in the heart of an opulent setting… but that’s all I can say for now!
A Novel
Nothing is quite as it seems in Victorian high society in this clever novel set against the most magnificent wedding of the season, as a mysterious heiress sets her sights on London's most illustrious family
A confidence scheme, when properly executed, will follow five movements in close and inviolable order:
I. The Mark II. The Intrusion. III. The Ballyhoo. IV. The Knot. V. All In.
There may be many counter-strikes along the way, for such is the nature of the game; it contains so many sides, so many endless possibilities...
1898. Quinn le Blanc, London’s most talented con woman, has five days to pull off her most ambitious plot yet: trap a highly eligible duke into marriageand lift a fortune from the richest family in England.
Masquerading as the season’s most enviable debutante, Quinn puts on a brilliant act that earns her entrance into the grand drawing rooms and lavish balls of high society—and propels her straight into the inner circle of her target: the charismatic Kendals. Among those she must convince are the handsome bachelor heir, the rebellious younger sister, and the esteemed duchess eager to see her son married.
But the deeper she forges into their world, the more Quinn finds herself tangled in a complicated web of love, lies, and loyalty. The Kendals all have secrets of their own, and she may not be the only one playing a game of high deception...
Women's Fiction Family Life | Multicultural Historical [Graydon House, On Sale: January 21, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9781525809859 / eISBN: 9780369760241]
ALEX HAY grew up in the United Kingdom in Cambridge and Cardiff, and has been writing as long as he can remember. He studied history at the University of York, and wrote his dissertation on female power at royal courts, combing the archives for every scrap of drama and skulduggery he could find. He has worked in magazine publishing and the charity sector and lives with his husband in London. The Housekeepers is his debut novel and won the Caledonia Novel Award.
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