Isle of Wight author Carolyn McCrae has published her latest book – a historical novel that takes one of Europe’s most enduring figures, Napoleon Bonaparte, and gives his fate a new twist.
‘A Set Of Lies’ takes the alternate history that Bonaparte was not exiled to St Helena, but lived out his life in England having been ‘turned’ by the British secret services and replaced by a double. This secret fate of Napoleon lies hidden for 200 years, only coming to light as a diary written by the mastermind behind the audacious plan is discovered.
Carolyn explains how the idea in the novel came to her.
“My husband and I were in a restaurant in Plymouth talking about the weeks that Napoleon Bonaparte had been on the Bellerophon in the harbour while the politicians in London argued about what to do with him. I started thinking about the options they had – parole, trial and imprisonment, trial and execution, assassination, trial and exile… It was difficult to see how exile was the best option.
“We talked about how useful Napoleon would have been to the secret services and how wasted their opportunity was – which is where my story begins!”
Napoleon himself is quoted as saying, ‘History is a set of lies agreed upon’. As Carolyn’s novel progresses, so the lies start to unravel in this: her latest gripping page-turner.
Originally from the Wirral, Carolyn McCrae now lives and works on the Island with her husband and cat. She has been an extra in a number of Bollywood films, has raced cars (overtaken by Ayrton Senna several times) and has flown solo (once was enough). She is the author of The Last Dance, Walking Alone, Runaways, Highly Unsuitable and, most recently, Her Parents’ Daughter – a murder mystery set in Yarmouth.
For more information about Carolyn and to purchase the book, visit https://www.carolynmccrae.com/.
