At an excellent literary festival in Tring, Herts, author Wendy Holden talks about what led her to this particular story, who it was inspired by, and a whole lot more. At almost an hour long this recording is a real insight into the mind and process of a bestselling historian. I write books. Lots of books. I tell people's stories. And sometimes, I tell my own... www.wendyholden.com

A fascinating and timely interview from 10 years ago to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII and the liberation of tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors. Next week, on the 80th anniversary, Wendy Holden, Mark Olsky, plus the two other miracles babies Hana Moran and Eva Clarke will, with Paul Kosiek, revisit Mauthausen concentration camp and remember those who didn't make it. I write books. Lots of books. I tell people's stories. And sometimes, I tell my own... www.wendyholde...

Bestselling author and historian Wendy Holden explains what led her to write a novel inspired by the incredible true story of Fredy Hirsch, a young man who persuaded the Nazis to allow him to set up a Children's Block in the shadow of Auschwitz's hungry chimneys. Young, gay, German and Jewish, Fredy set aside his own needs and risked his life every day to offer thousands of children guidance, protection, and love. Inside those sacred four walls, decorated with characters from Walt Disney's Sn...

In July 2021, Wendy was invited to the postponed Ways with Words Literary Festival at Dartington Hall in Devon to speak about her friendship and working relationship with the 100-year-old war veteran Captain Tom, who raised almost £40m for the NHS during the pandemic lockdown. This is the 50-minute audio recording of the video of that event, minus the first few minutes due to a technical fault. We hope you like it. I write books. Lots of books. I tell people's stories. And sometimes, I ...

This exclusive interview with the brilliant Phil Williams on the award winning Times Radio aired on March 31. In it, Wendy and Phil talk about Tom's legacy work - Life Lessons - published April 2 to follow on from his bestselling autobiography Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day. Tom sadly died of Covid two months earlier on February 2, aged 100. Life Lessons, written in his own words before he died, is his parting gift to the world. I write books. Lots of books. I tell people's stories. And so...

In this acclaimed first novel by author and former journalist Wendy Holden, Charlie, a war correspondent turned author who is haunted by her worst journalistic experiences, turns to the history of paper and the materials of JMW Turner to distract her from the ghosts of her past. Her research brings her into contact with Alan, a highly successful artist and Turner scholar. She falls under his seductive spell, only to discover that Alan has plenty of ghosts of his own. A book rich in history an...

This is the audio only of a video presentation that aired at the end of 2020 featuring Edna Adam Ismail, the 'Muslim Mother Teresa' whose life of selfless devotion is soon to be a film. Her autobiography, A Woman of Firsts, published by Harper Collins, broke new ground. Here is some more information about it---- Imprisonment. Mutilation. Persecution. Edna Adan Ismail endured it all – for the women of Africa. Edna saw first-hand how poor healthcare, lack of education and ancient s...

On this the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Wendy Holden author of Born Survivors and One Hundred Miracles, reflects on how our experience of the coronavirus pandemic can impact on our thoughts about this memorial day #LightInTheDarkness #HMD2021 I write books. Lots of books. I tell people's stories. And sometimes, I tell my own... www.wendyholden.com

A beautiful glassmaker. Two damaged men who love her. Set in exotic Bohemia and the wilderness of an English coast, this is a story of obsession and passion and fear… Wendy Holden explains where she found the unlikely inspiration for her latest novel, The Cruelty of Beauty, set in pre-revolution Czechoslovakia and Norfolk. 'A seed had been planted in my writer’s imagination - the nucleus of a yellow-green flower that would blossom into my next novel. What if I created a glassmaker as a...

Thirty years after she first heard his voice singing to her from a jukebox at her local drive-in, Barbara Ann Blakely began her love affair with Frank Sinatra. After a tempestuous courtship, she finally heard him say the wedding vows that began his fourth, final, and most enduring marriage; one that would last more than two decades until the end of his life. Generous and jealous, witty and wicked, Frank comes alive in this poignant inside story of the highs and lows of marriage to one of the ...