The Lavendar Bride
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley April 2, 2025
Author Alexandra Weston
Distributor: Amazon UK
ISBN: 978-1836039952
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Release Date: March 2025
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Set in 1946 and the following post World War II years, The Lavender Bride is based loosely on the life of Hollywood legend Rock Hudson, who while playing alongside Doris Day, became a huge star, marrying Phyllis Gates to hide the fact that he was ‘gay’.
The post wars years in America saw the rise of homophobia, the fear that Communism was going to overtake America with Senator Joe McCarty ushering in the fear mongering years of McCarthy-ism, which is where this intriguing and intimate story is firmly set.
Audrey is a dreamer; she dreams of one day moving to Hollywood and becoming something in the glamorous industry of film. She has a great and dear friend Freddie, who she is completely convinced will one day marry her, that they will go there together to begin a life faraway from Britain and her bully of a father.
But as with all dreams they fall to pieces all to easily, but this does not deter Audrey as she still goes to Hollywood, landing a job with a ruthless and unscrupulous Agent who just happened to manage the hottest property in Hollywood, the rising star Rex Trent.
Everything was going well, until it was not and that is when Audrey really begins to see the ruthless and unscrupulous side of the glitz and glamour that is Hollywood, as she still naively believes what she is being told. When she realises she has been tricked into helping cover up who and what Rex Trent really is, she is devastated, isolated and very lonely.
She refuses to let what has happened get her down and meets Jack purely by accident; a talented artist who works in the props side of film making. They keep on meeting by accident and form a deep friendship which helps Audrey through the tumultuous relationship she has with Rex.
Audrey’s life seems to be out of control, purposeless until she is asked to once again rescue Rex from his own folly. She reluctantly flies to Canada and there, in a strange quirk of fate, finds salvation and a deep, binding love.
The many layers of life in the American Movie industry during the halcyon years of the 1950’s and ‘60’s have been well captured by Alexandra Weston. Her research notes offer a greater depth to The Lavender Bride, which is a captivating read with the storyline being extremely believable.