Friday, July 14, 2006

Michael Dobbs Returns to Westminster for New Novel

Michael Dobbs has got a new political novel coming out in October called FIRST LADY. His last four books have featured Winston Churchill as the main character, but in the new book Dobbs goes back to his Westminster roots.

Michael Dobbs returns to the subject that made him a household name - the high drama and machinations of the political world. This is House of Cards for the 21st century, an insider's view of the dynamics of power by a writer who has had a privileged seat at the court of government for many years. This time the king maker is a woman, Virginia Edge, mid-thirties, attractive, self-sufficient, ambitious. Knowledge is power and she gleans it from the Other Half Club, a lunching group for Opposition parliamentary wives, and the gay network at Westminster. This is the story of her transformation from dutiful political wife to masterful manipulator of the entire political process at Westminster. She is a woman who is driven by the failings of men and the greed of others to take over their system and undermine it, to repay them in kind. In this battle, she has two great allies - the intuition and determination of a wronged wife, and the blind ineptitude of Westminster men. But, as Ginny discovers, there is a high price to pay for reaching to the very top...

2 comments:

David Farrar said...

Oh great. I love Dodds works and have all his books. He brought Churchill alive for me.

The plot summary sounds lots of fun. I usspect I will end up ordering it online, as NZ can be so far behind.

Anonymous said...

I loved the House of Cards trilogy. I hope Dobbs gets around to writing prequals about Urquhart's early life in the army, how met Elizabeth, his early years in Parliament and what Thatcher did that made him hate her so much, yet endorse her policies.