by L. S. Hilton
‘“Work together”?’ I hissed.
‘I have something I want you to do. And then you’ll be free to go, Judith.’
I could have thought of my sister, or of my mother. Of all that I’d done, of all that had happened to bring me here, of all that I’d been and all that I’d become. But I didn’t.
‘Go on then. Do it. Do it. Go ahead.’
So he raised the gun and aimed it at my heart.
TO BE CONCLUDED
Acknowledgements
My thanks to The Tosh, to Errikos for the hats, and to my amazing editors, Joel Richardson and Tara Singh-Carlson, for their immense patience.
Dear Reader,
I’m thrilled that you have picked up Domina and hope that you’ll enjoy it.
Maestra introduced the character of Judith Rashleigh, an ambitious junior art expert who discovers a fraud at the auction house where she works. She is fired for her curiosity, and when, in desperation, she accepts a trip from one of the customers at the bar where she moonlights as a hostess, she learns a very different way of fulfilling her dreams . . . Domina opens as Judith is established in her own gallery in Venice, but her past is about to catch up with her.
When I began Judith’s story, I was interested in playing with the conventions of noir fiction, and in creating a very different kind of anti-heroine. I wanted readers to find themselves rooting for her despite her criminality; to be caught up in the glamour and danger of her world even as they recognise how flawed she is. Maestra has provoked some pretty strong responses, both positive and negative – some readers find Judith an empowering character, whilst others, well, really hate her. Strangely, perhaps, I find both reactions exciting, because they suggest that readers are really engaging with the book. I wonder whether Domina will change the way Judith is perceived? In developing the narrative, I began with the phrase “the end of desire is death”. What happens to Judith when she actually gets what she wants? And when she is forced to protect it, possibly at the cost of her own life, does she even want it anymore?
Domina was huge fun to write, not least because I had to do some pretty fascinating research. I interviewed web hackers and a bona fide arms dealer, I travelled to Belgrade and Venice, and I spent a lot of time with Caravaggio, one of my favourite painters. I even started to learn Russian – admittedly with fairly pathetic results! It’s a fast, energetic, dark and sometimes comic story that, I hope, will keep surprising readers right until the end.
Domina’s mood is very different from Maestra, and I’d love to know which book you prefer, or where you imagine the story will go in the third and final book. So do get in touch – you can visit www.bit.ly/LSHilton to become part of the LS Hilton Readers Club, where you will find lots of extra material, from background on the artworks to a travel guide based on Judith’s adventures. Bonnier Zaffre will keep your data private and confidential, and it will never be passed on to a third party. We won’t spam you with loads of emails, we’ll just get in touch now and again with book news, and you can unsubscribe any time you want.
I look forward to hearing from you and sharing your reactions to Domina.
With all best wishes,
Lisa
CLICK HERE TO JOIN
Find out where it all began . . .
MAESTRA
THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER
GLAMOUR’S WRITER OF THE YEAR.
WHERE DO YOU GO WHEN YOU’VE GONE TOO FAR?
By day Judith Rashleigh is a put-upon assistant at a London auction house.
By night she’s a hostess in one of the capital’s unsavoury bars.
Desperate to make something of herself, Judith knows she has to play the game. She’s learned to dress, speak and act in the interests of men. She’s learned to be a good girl. But after uncovering a dark secret at the heart of the art world, Judith is fired and her dreams of a better life are torn apart.
So she turns to a long-neglected friend.
A friend that kept her chin up and back straight through every past slight.
A friend that a good girl like her shouldn’t have: Rage.
Available in paperback, ebook and audiobook now
First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Zaffre Publishing
This ebook edition published in 2017 by
Zaffre Publishing
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Copyright © LS Hilton, 2017
The moral right of LS Hilton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-78576-086-0
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-78576-087-7
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