About the Author
Celia Imrie is an Olivier award-winning and Screen Actors Guild-nominated actress. She is best known for her film roles in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Calendar Girls and Nanny McPhee. On stage, she won Best Actress in a Musical for Acorn Antiques: The Musical and was nominated for Best Actress in Noises Off. Celia Imrie's upcoming films are A Cure for Wellness, Year by the Sea and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, all due for release in 2016. Her autobiography, The Happy Hoofer, was published in 2011.
Featured books by Celia Imrie
Sail Away
Sail Away is a light-hearted Mystery set aboard a cruise ship written by actress and author Celia Imrie. Suzy the once famous actress is struggling to find work and accepts a role in a suspiciously amateur production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ with a small acting troupe that leaves her stranded in Zurich with her bank balanced cleaned out, with a job on a cruise ship her only option. Meanwhile, Amanda is preparing to downsize. As the removal van is pulling away from her new home, disaster! The purchase of her new flat has fallen through. Her two fully grown children can’t see past the end of their own noses to help offer any kind of support, leaving Amanda homeless. Thankfully a resolution is found but there is a delay of a few weeks before Amanda can move in, the perfect amount of time to (rightfully, in my opinion) spend some of the money set aside for her children from the sale on a holiday until she has somewhere to live. The stories of these two strangers become intertwined on the Blue Mermaid, a cruise ship that is larger than a small town, with just as many people on board. In an Oscar Wilde-esque case of mistaken identity takes place with a more serious crime and mystery undertone. The plot contains a number of twists and turns which leaves you guessing all of the particular nuances until the very end. The cruise ship is filled with a variety of nice and not so nice characters in order to diversify the story and offer some extra detail. In all, I enjoyed the book and would recommend. ~ Charlotte Walker
Not Quite Nice
Once the hideaway of artists and writers, Bellevue-Sur-Mer is now home to the odd movie star and, as Theresa discovers, a close-knit set of expats. Settling to the gentle rhythm of the seaside, Theresa embraces her new-found friendships and freedom.
Other books by Celia Imrie
Sail Away
Sail Away is a light-hearted Mystery set aboard a cruise ship written by actress and author Celia Imrie. Suzy the once famous actress is struggling to find work and accepts a role in a suspiciously amateur production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ with a small acting troupe that leaves her stranded in Zurich with her bank balanced cleaned out, with a job on a cruise ship her only option. Meanwhile, Amanda is preparing to downsize. As the removal van is pulling away from her new home, disaster! The purchase of her new flat has fallen through. Her two fully grown children can’t see past the end of their own noses to help offer any kind of support, leaving Amanda homeless. Thankfully a resolution is found but there is a delay of a few weeks before Amanda can move in, the perfect amount of time to (rightfully, in my opinion) spend some of the money set aside for her children from the sale on a holiday until she has somewhere to live. The stories of these two strangers become intertwined on the Blue Mermaid, a cruise ship that is larger than a small town, with just as many people on board. In an Oscar Wilde-esque case of mistaken identity takes place with a more serious crime and mystery undertone. The plot contains a number of twists and turns which leaves you guessing all of the particular nuances until the very end. The cruise ship is filled with a variety of nice and not so nice characters in order to diversify the story and offer some extra detail. In all, I enjoyed the book and would recommend. ~ Charlotte Walker
Sail Away
The deliciously witty, irresistible new novel from the top ten Sunday Times bestselling author of Not Quite Nice follows the exploits of two women on an Atlantic cruise ship The phone hasn't rung for months. Suzy Marshall is discovering that work can be sluggish for an actress over sixty - even for the former star of a 1980s TV series. So when she's offered the plum role of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest in Zurich, it seems like a godsend. Until, that is, the play is abruptly cancelled in suspicious circumstances, and Suzy is forced to take a job on a cruise ship to get home. Meanwhile Amanda Herbert finds herself homeless in rainy Clapham. Her flat purchase has fallen through, and her children are absorbed in their own dramas. Then she spots an advertisement for an Atlantic cruise, and realises a few weeks on-board would tide her over - and save her money - until the crisis is solved. As the two women set sail on a new adventure, neither can possibly predict the strange characters and dodgy dealings they will encounter - nor the unexpected rewards they will reap. Vividly evoking the old-world glamour of a cruise ship - and the complex politics of its staff quarters - Sail Away is at once a hilarious romp and a thrilling tale of intrigue, from the acclaimed pen of Celia Imrie.
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Somewhere on the French Riviera, tucked between glitzy Monte Carlo and Cannes' red carpets, lies the pretty town of Bellevue-Sur-Mer. Sheltered from the glittering melee, it is home to many an expat - including an enterprising team who plan to open a new restaurant. Snapping up a local property and throwing themselves into preparations, Theresa, Carol, William and Benjamin's plans are proceeding unnervingly well. But when Theresa encounters a mysterious intruder, she begins to wonder what secrets the building is concealing. Meanwhile Sally, an actress who gave up the stage to live in quiet anonymity, has decided not to be involved. The famous Cannes Film Festival is on and she is far too busy entertaining unexpected visitors from her past, and an intriguingly handsome Russian. As the razzmatazz of the festival begins to spill over into Bellevue-Sur-Mer, its inhabitants become entangled in complex love triangles and conflicting business interests. With the race on to get the restaurant open in time, the gang find themselves knee-deep in skulduggery, and realise they can no longer tell who's nasty ... and who's nice.
Not Quite Nice
Once the hideaway of artists and writers, Bellevue-Sur-Mer is now home to the odd movie star and, as Theresa discovers, a close-knit set of expats. Settling to the gentle rhythm of the seaside, Theresa embraces her new-found friendships and freedom.
The Happy Hoofer
'I've always been wilful... I've always been stubborn and always determined'One of our best-loved actresses, Celia Imrie would rather have been a dancer. As a child she planned to join the Royal Ballet and marry Rudolf Nureyev. Now she has become one of our finest and funniest performers, on stage, TV and screen - adored for her roles in Acorn Antiques and dinnerladies, as well as films including Calendar Girls and Nanny McPhee. In her hugely entertaining autobiography Celia Imrie recounts a life hurtling (not always intentionally) into adventures both on stage and off. Whether it's finding herself on stage with half the scenery stuck to her cardigan, or being kidnapped on her way to location, somehow she emerges from the chaos unscathed. Acting, she admits, is a mad, chaotic profession and it is her refreshing honesty, sense of mischief, fun and almost unruffled determination in the face of it all that makes this autobiography a never-ending delight.
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