King's Road - Mariella Novotny
NOVOTNY, Mariella. King’s Road. London: Leslie Frewin, 1971.
First edition. A scarce novel in an attractive pink dust-jacket with the author on front cover. Author’s only published novel. The heroine of this book is Tricesta St Regis, a glamorous Chelsea girl zooming between King’s Road and Notting Hill in a bronze Jaguar E-Type to the music of Jimmy Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, soul and reggae. Tricesta becomes embroiled with an underground militant black organization, and begins to run operations for them, including a mission to compromise an MP. A fascinating portrayal of Swinging London, combining civil rights, race relations, political intrigue with drugs, sex, and rock’n’roll.
Mariella Novotny (1942-1983), a sex-queen hostess of London society and spy, was involved in some of the most sensational events of the 20th century - the Profumo/Keeler affair of 1963, and the JFK assassination investigation. Though she claimed a Czech background, she was in all likelihood born in England as Stella Capes. She was a close friend of Christine Keeler and was managed (as well as painted) by Steven Ward. In 1989 Mariella Novotny was portrayed by Britt Ekland in the film Scandal about the Profumo Affair.
240 pp. (ISBN: 856320021). 8vo, original black boards, faint crease to rear board. Occasional light foxing. Dust jacket un-clipped; light fading to spine. A very good copy.