Chrissie Bellbrae's first stories were crafted playing families with dressmaking patterns at her mother's feet while the sewing machine hummed in the background. While working in education, she undertook a Fiona McIntosh Masterclass and hasn't stopped writing since.
Chrissie will be talking about her new book 'The Romanov Secret'.
A celebrated artist's painting holds clues to long-held family secrets and lives under threat, long after the fall of the Russian Empire.
1898: When the legitimacy of Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanov's marriage to the Tsar's brother comes into question, her son's claim to the Imperial throne is challenged too. But the Romanov dynasty desperately needs an heir, and their fate lies in the hand of the tyrannical Russian ruler. As revolution strikes the streets of St Petersburg and members of the Imperial family disappear, Tatiana must find a way to protect her son from mortal danger.
1982: Fashion Buyer Jean Campain has never forgiven her artist mother Aurora for making her relinquish her child. When Jean inherits the Archibald prize-winner's previously unknown self-portrait she is compelled to interpret its hidden symbolism— and face the events that tore her family apart. But a conflicting account of the circumstances reveals Aurora's dark deception, spiralling Jean into a breakdown, and threatens an end to her dream of family unity.
