Stonehouse
On sale
1st September 2022
Price: £21.99
The true story behind the 2023 ITV series, STONEHOUSE, starring Matthew Macfayden and Keeley Hawes.
‘An extraordinary life . . . a vivid account’ Telegraph
‘Completely absorbing’ CAROL ANN LEE, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For Poison
‘I literally consumed the book in just a few hungry sittings . . . most definitely a must read’ DR SALEYHA AHSAN, filmmaker and journalist, Cambridge
In November 1974, British MP and former cabinet minister John Stonehouse walked into the sea off a beach in Miami and disappeared, seemingly drowned.
Then he was found – on the other side of the world, in Australia – and his extraordinary story began to come to light: a Labour cabinet minister and a devoted family man; also in a long-term affair with his secretary, and a spy for the Czech State Security agency, who had committed fraud and attempted to fake his own death to escape catastrophic business failures.
Was it a mental breakdown as he later claimed? Or were there more sinister reasons for his dramatic disappearance?
This is the definitive biography of Stonehouse, written by Julian Hayes, who, as the son of Stonehouse’s nephew and lawyer, Michael Hayes, is uniquely placed to tell the story of this charismatic but deeply flawed politician.
‘An extraordinary life . . . a vivid account’ Telegraph
‘Completely absorbing’ CAROL ANN LEE, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For Poison
‘I literally consumed the book in just a few hungry sittings . . . most definitely a must read’ DR SALEYHA AHSAN, filmmaker and journalist, Cambridge
In November 1974, British MP and former cabinet minister John Stonehouse walked into the sea off a beach in Miami and disappeared, seemingly drowned.
Then he was found – on the other side of the world, in Australia – and his extraordinary story began to come to light: a Labour cabinet minister and a devoted family man; also in a long-term affair with his secretary, and a spy for the Czech State Security agency, who had committed fraud and attempted to fake his own death to escape catastrophic business failures.
Was it a mental breakdown as he later claimed? Or were there more sinister reasons for his dramatic disappearance?
This is the definitive biography of Stonehouse, written by Julian Hayes, who, as the son of Stonehouse’s nephew and lawyer, Michael Hayes, is uniquely placed to tell the story of this charismatic but deeply flawed politician.
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
[Hayes], a criminal lawyer, mounts the case for the prosecution. This is that Stonehouse was an avaricious chancer who faked his death in a last-throw attempt to escape a series of failed and fraudulent business dealings in which he had entangled innocent friends and relatives, including the author's father. While posing "as if he were the innocent victim of the entire, bizarre spectacle", Stonehouse was a "callous" man who brought "a tidal wave of distress, anguish and ruin crashing down on his extended family, not only Barbara and their children, but also dragging his nephew, Michael, and his young family under with them.
The minister's nephew recounts an extraordinary life . . . The book is a vivid account of how, in the 1960s and 1970s, Stonehouse - once tipped as a future Labour prime minister - betrayed his country, made a mockery of domestic and international law, ripped off investors and friends, humiliated both Harold Wilson and Parliament and shattered his own family and then, when the jaws of his self-made trap began to close around him, organised and executed a fake-your-own-death escape of such breathtaking chutzpah, he later tried to explain it as the work of a second personality living within him.
What a book. I didn't have to turn the pages. They turned themselves . . . Julian's sharp, succinct writing weaves fact and detail together into a captivating narrative . . . the authentic truth from the perspective of one who was a witness. Julian Hayes is perfectly placed to tell this story . . . His legal expertise makes sense of criminal proceedings, but while he beautifully lays out the factual detail, it is the human side of this very personal story that is so captivating. Some of this obtained through conversations with his family but also the recollections of a young Julian, who witnessed much of what is shared through the innocent eyes of a child. This is most definitely a must read.
What a book - and what a character. I loved every minute . . . I should imagine that had Stonehouse's life story occurred to John Le Carré as a plot for one of his novels, he would have dismissed it as too far-fetched. Completely absorbing and told with huge compassion, integrity and skill. Stonehouse was ahead of his times in many ways, yet decadent, deceitful but also very engaging and intelligent . . . it's really the power of his personality that drives the book, which is ripe for dramatic interpretation of some kind, either television or film. Julian Hayes is a born storyteller too, and his family certainly gifted him with a remarkable story that lingers long after the final reading.