The Heart of the Ritz

France, April 1940. Polly Hartford has been sent across oceans to her Aunt Marjorie, known only from letters. When Marjorie dies in suspicious circumstances, Polly is left with her aunt’s loaded pistol in a beautiful Hermès handbag ... and to the care of Marjorie’s three friends: an elegant Comtesse, a gutter-born film star and a big-hearted American heiress.

Polly is taken to live at the Hôtel Ritz, where those who live there think money protects them from war … But when the Nazis invade, the illusion is shattered. As Paris deteriorates, Polly and her guardians face the horrors of the Occupation with courage, humour, style – even romance – and discover just what they are capable of. As the Liberation approaches, those who survive must face a day of reckoning, but one truth stands tall: at the heart of the Ritz is the soul of resistance.

A dramatic story about conviction and courage, drawn from real characters and extraordinary events.

I live with my partner and pets in the historic town of Castlemaine, in the heart of the beautiful Goldfields region of Victoria, Australia. Originally from Western Australia, where I often return, I grew up in the Perth Hills where I attended Eastern Hills Senior High School and Curtin University in the 1980s. I moved to Melbourne to pursue writing opportunities in 1988 and have lived in Victoria since.