Freud’s Cigar ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.’ Dr Sigmund Freud 1856 -1939. In my novel The Scandalous Life Of Sasha Torte, Sasha is introduced to the famous Austrian neurologist Dr Sigmund Freud, at The Sperl Café in Vienna. Sasha Torte – world famous Tasmanian pastry chef – is very taken with … [Read more…]
I Want That Cake ‘Let there be no shame on me tonight!’ Prince Wenzel von Metternich 1832 The narrator of my novel, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, was named in honour of a famous cake. Sasha Torte is a world-class Tasmanian pastry chef and she establishes her magnificent cake emporium in Wolfftown, a fictional … [Read more…]
The Amorous Goldfish The first theatre play that I wrote, involved a character named Alphonse. I’d been fortunate in that I’d been offered a mentorship with a professional director. The Australia Council for the Arts also offered me a rehearsed reading in a city theatre with the director, professional actors and an audience. It was … [Read more…]
She Purred Like a Tiger In 1903 Mrs Elinor Glyn published, Three Weeks. These days the novel is considered a bizarre but fairly tame read, but back then it was the Edwardians version of Fifty Shades of Grey and sold about 2 million copies. In the opening pages of my novel, The Scandalous Life of … [Read more…]
Home Sweet Home One of the questions I’ve often been asked is – how autobiographical is The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte? Given that Sasha Torte is sabotaged by abusive and neglectful parenting, escalating depression and a later addiction to opium, laudanum, champagne, piratical men and hard liquor, the question becomes loaded and … [Read more…]
Antonin Carême In my second novel, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, I acknowledge Ian Kelly’s wonderful non-fiction book, Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême , the First Celebrity Chef (Walker & Company, New York). After her grandfather gifts her several leather-bound copies of Carême’s cookbooks, Sasha Torte – the fictitious, future Tasmanian … [Read more…]
The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte – in print by Harper Collins Australia & Bolinda Audio recording in English. read by Australian actor, Caroline Lee. I can confirm that being ensconced under a feather doona late at night – with rain pelting the tin roof – while listening to Caroline’s voice, was … [Read more…]
The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte Published by Harper Collins REVIEWS: THE AUSTRALIAN: Weekend Australian Review April 1 2017. Read full review by Robyn Walton on BOOKS page. ‘Melbourne author Lesley Truffle gives the young female protagonists extraordinary adventures and social mobility. Her humour is droll, her tone arch, her satire pervasive … These narratives toy … [Read more…]