Stories I Can't Tell

What secrets lurk in her battered trunk of theatrical souvenirs? Find out in this illustrated confessional from stage star Maggie King (assisted by Russell james).
On the eve of the Second World War Maggie King is preparing a celebrity memoir. From her theatrical trunk she pulls sketches from her shows, along with programmes, handbills, letters and photos, both from her own career and that of her parents, Albert and Annie King ('the Royal Family' of Music Hall and Variety). We share the ups and downs of her rackety life, the hits and flops, the romance and tragedy, the men who mattered and the one who caused the scandal that blighted her life.
Brought on stage as a babe-in-arms, she went on to become a child performer, pierrot, actress, soubrette and singer. Though she made her first gramophone records in the early years of pre-electric 78 rpm records (before microphones!) she found more fame in the Twenties and Thirties as a crooner with Britain's top dance bands. Then came the scandal.
As she shares her vivid memories she tells what really happened, as opposed to what you'd find in a show-biz biography. These are the stories she can't tell.

Russell has been a published writer for some 25 years, is an ex-Chairman of the Crime Writers Association, and has written a dozen and a half novels in the crime and historical genres.
He has also published various non-fiction works, including 4 illustrated biographical encyclopaedias: Great British Fictional Detectives and its companion work, Great British Fictional Villains, followed by the Pocket Guide to Victorian Writers & Poets, and its companion, the Pocket Guide to Victorian Artists & Their Models.
His books include:
IN A TOWN NEAR YOU (Prospero)
THE CAPTAIN'S WARD (Prospero)
AFTER SHE DROWNED (Prospero)
STORIES I CAN'T TELL (with Maggie King) (Prospero)
THE NEWLY DISCOVERED DIARIES OF DOCTOR KRISTAL (Prospero)
EXIT 39 (Prospero)
RAFAEL'S GOLD (Prospero)
THE EXHIBITIONISTS (G-Press)
POCKET GUIDE TO VICTORIAN ARTISTS & MODELS (Pen & Sword)
POCKET GUIDE TO VICTORIAN WRITERS & POETS (Pen & Sword)
GREAT BRITISH FICTIONAL VILLAINS (Pen & Sword)
GREAT BRITISH FICTIONAL DETECTIVES (Pen & Sword)
THE MAUD ALLAN AFFAIR (Pen & Sword)
MY BULLET SWEETLY SINGS (Prospero)
REQUIEM FOR A DAUGHTER (Prospero)
NO ONE GETS HURT (Do Not Press)
PICK ANY TITLE (Do Not Press)
THE ANNEX (Five Star Mysteries)
PAINTING IN THE DARK (Do Not Press)
OH NO, NOT MY BABY (Do Not Press)
COUNT ME OUT (Serpent's Tail)
SLAUGHTER MUSIC (Alison & Busby)
PAYBACK (Gollancz)
DAYLIGHT (Gollancz)
UNDERGROUND (Gollancz)