Lois Cahall
Ms. Cahall began her writing career as a columnist for Cape Cod newspapers and local periodicals including Cape Cod Life before spending over a decade writing for women’s, men’s, and food magazines. Her articles have been published in Redbook, Cosmo Girl, Seventeen, SELF, Marie Claire, Ladies Home Journal, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Journal, and Bon Appetit. In the UK she’s written for RED, GQ, Psychologies, and for The Times.
Ms. Cahall’s first novel, Plan C: Just in Case, (Bloomsbury 2012) was a #1 best-seller in the UK. It remained in the top three for e-book fiction on Amazon for that year before selling into international translation markets. Ms. Cahall’s second novel Court of the Myrtles (Bloomsbury) was hailed as “Tuesdays with Morrie on estrogen,” by Ladies Home Journal. Her forthcoming novel is entitled The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery.
Lois Cahall has become a singularly successful advocate for authors, editors, and publishers. In 2015 she founded the Palm Beach Book Festival, a 501 c-3 non-profit bringing in New York Times best-selling and celebrity authors. Her reach spans between the world’s most beloved commercial fiction writers to award-winning authors of literary merit.
James Patterson is the Palm Beach Festival’s Honorary Chairman. In 2020 Ms. Cahall was named Creative Director of Development for James Patterson Entertainment (JPE) adapting his novels into films. With his blessing, she’s now turned her direction to her home state of Massachusetts, founding the Cape Cod Book Festival (CCBF.)
Ms. Cahall divides her life between Cape Cod and New York, although her spiritual home is London. But most importantly, she can twirl the Hula Hoop for an hour non-stop and clear a Thanksgiving table in just under ten minutes. And we won’t even discuss how fast she can shuck an oyster, though she savors her clam chow-dah slowly.
In the heart of tumultuous times, amidst the grandeur of Victorian opulence, there existed an American socialite whose influence altered the course of the Anglo-Irish treaty:
Lady Hazel Lavery
Boston-born Hazel ascended from her Irish roots to become the quintessential Society Queen of Chicago, and later London, where she lived a delicate dance between two worlds: one with her esteemed husband, Sir John Lavery, a portrait artist to royalty, and the other with Michael Collins, the daring Irish rebel whose fiery spirit ignited her heart. Together, they formed a love triangle that echoed through the corridors of power at 10 Downing Street, London.
Hazel's wit and charm touched on the lives of the who's-who of England including Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw and Evelyn Waugh. The image of her memorable face graced the Irish note for close to half-a-century.
Advanced Praise
“Like one of John Lavery’s portraits, Lois Cahall’s Hazel Lavery oozes love and passion, intrigue and imagination. To that canvas add chiaroscuro—loyalty and infidelity, diplomacy and assassination—and you have a novel almost Shakespearean.”
– Larry Loftis, New York Times
bestselling author of The Princess Spy
“This novel is based on the true story of one of the most fascinating women of the early 20th century, American-born socialite Hazel Lavery. Hers was the face on Irish currency for decades, and it’s rumored that she had an affair with Irish hero Michael Collins. She apparently even taught Winston Churchill to paint! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of her before; kudos to Cahall for bringing her alive in a novel.”
- Kristen Harmel, FriendsandFiction Instagram book reviewer
“Lois Cahall presents us with a wonderful and warming account of a life truly lived to the full. The story is packed with incidents and memorable occurrences in which famous and notable figures of the time make their various entrances and exits. Hazel lived a busy life, one very well lived, so when the readers arrive, with regret, at the final page, they will realise and understand that hers is a life with more than its fair share of unbearable tragedies, each of which are treated with humanity and compassion. The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery by Lois Cahall is a powerful and at all times eminently readable book, a fine work which will undoubtedly win the praise and plaudits it so richly deserves.”
- Julian de la Motte, author of “Senlac: A Novel of the Norman Conquest” and HFC Reviewer – The Historical Fiction Company 'Highly Recommended' Award of Excellence
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