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To Hell in High Heels

11th April 2008 by Helena 19 Comments  

To Hell in High HeelsIt really was to hell in high heels when I finally left the launch party wearing my gorgeous red snakeskin Fratelli Rossetti stilettos. After three days of tottering around London in high heels there is not a part of my feet that doesn’t hurt. But it was all worth it.

Yesterday was pretty perfect. It started with TV, then went on to shopping, a massage and a sleep, and ended with a lovely party. Actually it ended for me after the party when I went to BBC London to talk about the book. Then back to the most comfortable bed in town at The Berkeley Hotel.

I am now on the Eurostar heading back home, pondering the high and lowlights of the trip. Highlights are: Getting to the giddy heights of number 21 in the Amazon ratings with To Hell; meeting a woman who interviewed George Clooney (and since you ask, yes, he was everything you could possibly hope, dream and wish for and more); The suite at the Berkeley Hotel with everything you could ever want in a room, including a TV you can watch from the bath and wardrobes that light up as you walk towards them; wandering around London in the sunshine (yes, it was sunny for FOUR days, I bet that hasn’t happened since about 1856); stumbling across a sample sale where I found a fuschia pink leather jacket (can you imagine the joy?); seeing so many lovely friends at the party and having Rupert with me for once.

Lowlights; the red sofa on BBC Breakfast clashing horribly with my jumper (you can guess what colour it is); getting stuck in a size 8 dress at H&M and wondering if I would have to call the fire brigade (but as Rina my publicist said “We’ve all been there honey.”); not sleeping (no change there, the international conspiracy continues); getting my high heels repeatedly caught in cracks in the pavement; leaving Knightsbridge this morning and wondering when I’ll be back.

But a highlight will be seeing the babies, Max and Wolfie.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008


Filed Under: Book sales, TV, blog --> Tagged With: heels

19 thoughts on To Hell in High Heels

  • Rosemary says:
    11th April 2008 at 1:20 pm

    Youve had a wonderful time Helena – wish you heaps of luck with the book !! As mentioned your hair looks wonderful – youve done a fab job and youv’e just experienced going to hell in high heels !!! Keep it up woman !!

    Love Rosemary xxx

  • helena says:
    11th April 2008 at 1:27 pm

    Thanks Rosemary, am quite happy to be writing this wearing wool socks!
    Hx

  • shary says:
    11th April 2008 at 5:54 pm

    Glad you had a successful trip. Did you ever stop to think why we torture ourselves with 3 ” stilettos:? I
    just can’t tolerate them anymore and have done permanent damage to my back & spine. I thnk you ought ot investigate the history of high heels. Why do women torture themselves and men do not? Just a thought!

  • Pollyvousfrancais says:
    15th April 2008 at 11:39 pm

    Well, high heels make women look more feminine, right?

    The trick is balancing when you wear the heels — not for a hike across town! And not all day. That’s why a large pocketbook is great — keep a pair of flats inside that you switch into and out of.

    Here’s what one Frenchman had to say about heels, anyway:

    http://pollyvousfrancais.blogspot.com/2008/04/if-shoe-fits.html

  • Ally says:
    8th May 2008 at 9:30 am

    Have a look… http://www.fratellirossetti.com

  • Dona AK says:
    16th January 2009 at 10:15 pm

    Hi Helena,
    I loved your book.Gave me good tips as well as great laughs.
    greetings from Saudi Arabia.

  • helena says:
    17th January 2009 at 5:20 pm

    Thanks Dona, lovely to have greetings from Saudi. I just finished reading Girls of Riyadh which I loved.
    Hx

  • Dona AK says:
    22nd January 2009 at 4:22 pm

    Yeah,I read that book too,it does tell a lot about girls in Saudi, not an exaggeration…we are after all normal people who fall in love.
    Anyways,im planning a trip to London,UK and im willing to buy all ur books..I LOVED ur sense of humour.

  • helena says:
    24th January 2009 at 9:01 am

    Thanks Dona, let me know if ever come to Abu Dhabi, I’ll buy you a coffee.
    Good tip on the laser by the way!
    Hx

  • Dona AK says:
    2nd February 2009 at 8:06 pm

    ok,,i came back from london,,(did u miss me? ) :p
    i got “ciao bella” & “more more france plz”.
    im gonna start reading about france (from ur point of view) since i only went to Paris once and i hated it :s
    (went with 2 little kids,couldnt do the mulan rouge nor budda bar)…had to put them to sleep early so i didnt get to see the tour eiffel by night (it was summer,,sun sets late) grrrr!

    by the way,ur husband’s attitude towards botox,lips,hair extention reminds me a lot of my younger sister (well me too,,but this was b4 i hit 30) hehehe…

    Another “little tip” if ur gonna do Botox.(again)..dont have them use the full injection,,use only half,,this way..u’ll look more natural,your face will express u better,and no one will notice..and the feeling of that iron pressed agaisnt ur forehead isnt as bad 😉

  • Dona AK says:
    2nd February 2009 at 9:24 pm

    full amount (of botox)injection i meant.

  • Poonam Vadher says:
    25th March 2009 at 12:50 pm

    Hi Helena

    I think you are an amazing writer I love your book Two Lipsticks and a Lover, some of thne theory you cover just resembles myself. its so funny. I am freelance journalist and my aim is to write a quirky novel one day. Looking forward to reading the rest of your books and the hidden agenda behind them all.

    Keep up the fabulous work.
    Ciao P.xxx

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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