Overview

The glittering story of April Ashley, model and trans pioneer, and the divorce case that gripped 1970s Britain and defined transgender rights for a generation. As Britain emerged from post-war austerity and headed towards the Swinging Sixties, no one embodied its newfound spirit of hedonism and glamour like April Ashley. A fashion model and socialite who rose from poverty in Liverpool to the heights of London society via Le Carrousel nightclub in Paris, she was also one of the first Britons to undergo gender-affirming surgery. Ashley was appointed MBE for services to transgender equality in 2012, but her journey towards acceptance was hard-won and bitterly contested. In 1961, a friend sold her story to a tabloid and she feared that she would never work in the UK again. Her brief marriage to Arthur Corbett, the son of a baron, set off a high-profile divorce battle, resulting in a landmark 1970 decision denying transgender women legal status as women — and denying Ashley her husband’s inheritance. Instead, she blazed her own trail, rubbing shoulders along the way with the bohemians and jetsetters who had risen to prominence in the Swinging Sixties. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, award-winning biographers Jacqueline Kent and Tom Roberts tell the full story of April Ashley’s extraordinary life at the vanguard of the sexual revolution and the movement for trans equality.

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9781915590329

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Reviews

Praise for A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, a literary life: ‘A sharp-eyed and warm-hearted biography … the pleasure of Davis’ company is further enlivened by Kent’s own quietly witty take on her material.’ -- Kerryn Goldsworthy * The Age * Praise for Beyond Words: a year with Kenneth Cook: ‘There is nothing “buttoned” about Jacqueline Kent’s memoir of her brief relationship with Kenneth Cook, author of Wake in Fright (1961). Indeed, she brings a striking degree of verisimilitude — an almost eerie recall — to the project.’ * The Sydney Morning Herald * Praise for The Making of Murdoch: ‘To unpeel the layers of “the man who owns the media”, it's difficult to think of someone more qualified than Tom Roberts … Here, Roberts again applies his forensic approach and scholarly rigour.’ * Spear’s Magazine * Praise for Before Rupert: ‘In this engrossing study Tom Roberts draws on a remarkable range of sources, many for the first time, to show how Keith Murdoch succeeded in his ambition.’ -- Stuart Macintyre, author of <i>The History Wars</i>

‘The book has a pleasant tone. Its authors, Jacqueline Kent and Tom Roberts, give a lesson in amiable tolerance and handle other thorny subjects without a touch of militancy. Their lesson seems to be that only fools rush in to judge what they cannot understand.’ -- Richard Davenport-Hines * The Times * ‘April’s extraordinarily courageous and pioneering personal journey is the story of a trans life well lived. At times heartbreaking, this book documents her setbacks — and also her ultimate triumph as a much loved trans hero!’ -- Peter Tatchell, LGBT+ and human rights defender ‘This book is about April’s triumphant journey to be the woman she was born to be.’ -- Boy George ‘A dazzling account of a unique life woven into the wider story of dramatic social change across the best part of a century. It is also a story which resonates to the present day.’ -- Paul Baker, author of <i>Fabulosa! the story of Polari, Britain’s secret gay language</i> ‘More twists and turns to it than the maze at Hampton Court!’ -- Sir Roy Strong ch, former director of Victoria and Albert Museum ‘From Smithdown Road, Liverpool to London high society, this entertaining biography does her extraordinary story justice.’ -- Paul Burston, author of <i>We Can Be Heroes</i> Praise for A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, a literary life: ‘A sharp-eyed and warm-hearted biography … the pleasure of Davis’ company is further enlivened by Kent’s own quietly witty take on her material.’ -- Kerryn Goldsworthy * The Age * Praise for Beyond Words: a year with Kenneth Cook: ‘There is nothing “buttoned” about Jacqueline Kent’s memoir of her brief relationship with Kenneth Cook, author of Wake in Fright (1961). Indeed, she brings a striking degree of verisimilitude — an almost eerie recall — to the project.’ * The Sydney Morning Herald * Praise for The Making of Murdoch: ‘To unpeel the layers of “the man who owns the media”, it's difficult to think of someone more qualified than Tom Roberts … Here, Roberts again applies his forensic approach and scholarly rigour.’ * Spear’s Magazine * Praise for Before Rupert: ‘In this engrossing study Tom Roberts draws on a remarkable range of sources, many for the first time, to show how Keith Murdoch succeeded in his ambition.’ -- Stuart Macintyre, author of <i>The History Wars</i>

Author Information

Jacqueline Kent is the author of five acclaimed biographies. A Certain Style, her biography of pioneering editor Beatrice Davis, won the National Biography Award, Australia’s premier prize for life writing. She is also an award-winning book editor and reviewer. Tom Roberts is an author and historian. He holds master’s degrees from the universities of Westminster and Cambridge and a PhD in modern history from Macquarie University. His books include Before Rupert, winner of the 2017 National Biography Award, and How Trump Thinks, co-written with Peter Oborne.

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