In conjunction with the release of her memoir, A Letter From Paris, join author Louisa Deasey in conversation with Margaret Ambrose about the post-war experience of Paris, for artists of the 1940s and 1950s. Margaret Ambrose will discuss with Louisa about some of the research into the Australian-French connections that went into A Letter From Paris.
From piles of diary entries about Paris after the war, to how a tiny hamlet in the south of France became a bohemian artist’s colony for Australian ex-pats in the late 1940s, to a mistaken arrest at a hotel in Paris which was known as “Little Australia” for a time in the 1950s: Louisa’s research gives a unique perspective on France for those Australians who fled there to escape ‘conformity’ after World War Two.
THE BOOK: A Letter From Paris
What would you do if someone you thought you’d lost forever, sent you a message from Paris?
A true story of hidden art, lost romance, and family reclaimed.
When Louisa Deasey receives a message from a French woman about a stack of letters written about Louisa’s father, neither woman can imagine the events it will set in motion.
From the seemingly simple question ‘Who was Denison Deasey?’ follows a trail of discovery that leads Louisa from the State Library in Melbourne to the streets of London and Paris, to a poet’s villa in the south of France.
Ranging from her father’s secret service in World War Two to his relationships with some of the most famous bohemian artists in post-war Europe, Louisa unearths a portrait of a fascinating man, both at the epicenter and at the mercy of the social and political currents of his time.
A Letter from Paris is about the stories we tell ourselves, and the secrets uncovered by looking into the past. A compelling tale of inheritance and creativity, loss and reunion, it shows the power of the written word to reunite us with our loved ones.
A Letter From Paris, published by Scribe, will be available for purchase and signing on the night.
to buy it online. Note that A Letter from Paris will soon be available to purchase at the Alliance Française
LOUISA DEASAY
Louisa Deasey is a Melbourne author and freelance journalist who has published widely, including work in Overland, Vogue, Sunday Life and the Age.
MARGARET AMBROSE
Margaret Ambrose is a journalist and author of the book How To Be French.
VENUE: Alliance Francaise de Melbourne
ADDRESS: 51 Grey St., St Kilda
DATE: Monday 1st October 2018
TIME: 6:30 pm
PRICE: FREE
BOOKING: RSVP:
in association with
