That book – based on Ceaușescu’s PhD – was published by Pergamon under the title Stereospecific Polymerization of Isoprene and carries a foreword by the Nobel prize-winning British chemist Dorothy Hodgkin, who wrote: “I am not equipped myself with enough technical knowledge of the field of this work to give a critical scientific evaluation of its contents. Asma hired PR firms in Britain and America to buff her image. They flew in parliamentarians from around the world to admire her good deeds. Celebrities came to Damascus, including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Sting and Damon Albarn. The grand mufti invited Syrian Jews who had fled persecution decades earlier. Brown Lloyd James, an American PR company, arranged a cover story in Vogue in March 2011, which portrayed Asma as “a rose in the desert” who was determined to make Syria into a “brand”. Demands to be devoured in one sitting. S umptuously written... One of the most compelling literary debuts of the year ' GLAMOUR Asma’s parents arrived in London in the 1970s in search of better opportunities. The family remained religious in exile: her father attended Friday prayers and her mother discarded her hijab only after Asma married. Friends describe the family as culturally conservative but eager for their children to assimilate. At her local Church of England primary school Asma was known as Emma. “You’d be hard-pressed to recognise her as a Syrian,” a neighbour recalled.

Elena Ceaușescu was born to a family of farmers and traders in 1916, according to her biography in the Romanian national archives. She attended night school at the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest for seven years from 1950, and after her graduation went to work at the National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry (ICECHIM), in the department working on elastomers – a type of polymer. Pergamon, which was owned by Robert Maxwell, also published hagiographic biographies of several eastern bloc leaders, including one on the Romanian dictator titled: Nicolae Ceaușescu: Builder of Modern Romania and International Statesman (1983). The author has created an imaginative Eastern European country, and has set the novel in the early 1990s, under the shadow of the fall of communism and the raising of the Iron Curtain. The fictious country of Yanussia was formerly a part of the USSR and now that the doors have been flung open, its populace are gunning for justice against the corruption of the past…or are they? A captivating story of women’s power, love and secrets. As timely and profound as it is unforgettable. The ending left me breathless’ LARA PRESCOTT, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept This was a pivotal moment for the couple. Until now Asma, the foreign wife, had been relegated to the sidelines. Now she came to play a central role in Bashar’s international rehabilitation. “She was his ambassador to all the countries with whom he couldn’t mingle and mix,” says Abdel Nour, Bashar’s former adviser.I was invited by the principal of London University to discuss with him the grounds for the award of an honorary doctorate to Elena,” Deletant says. “I expressed a strong opposition to such a step.” In Romanian academia, plagiarism is rampant, as is nepotism,” he says. “Sloppy science is ubiquitous, [much of it] a consequence of Elena Ceaușescu’s nefarious and outsized influence in the 70s and 80s.” The plot twists were strong and the entire read felt like whirlwind. I can't lie, I did read in one sitting because I couldn't bare to put the book down. The emotional trauma of the protagonist, the manipulation of the accused and the deep-rooted betrayal could easily be taken out of the book and applied to so many external, real-world scenarios. I love a good historical fiction. I definitely recommend. Now I was here, on behalf of the woman whose husband had controlled it all. How much had she known? How tainted was she, and therefore how tainted was I by association?” Elena Ceausescu (1916-89) was the wife of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu (1918-89). During the 1970s and 80s, she was one of the two most powerful women on earth (the other was was Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of Great Britain). Her reputation was falsely built up thanks to a fraudulent PhD, appointments to Central Committee positions, and extensive propaganda.

For months, Asma stopped giving interviews. Former friends describe her as looking emaciated on a rare public outing to a pro-government rally in January 2012. At some point she and her child Strange how glamour enchants us, how it makes us forget. A fur coat insists on us ignoring the abattoir". The Dictator’s Wife, Marija Popa, faces the death penalty for the crimes of her husband, who can’t stand trial himself, as he was brutally murdered. Set in the fictional country Yanussia, Marija hires defence lawyers from London to help her fight her case. In comes Laura - who is a Yanussia born lawyer along with her boss to try and save Marija from the noose. The book combined real world law terminology (and British law firms) to deliver an accurate and thought-provoking look into who society deems monsters and who we give free passes to. How we define history and how we allow it to shape our present and our future. How money and status enables access to creating an illusion of innocence. Are any of us innocent? How do we truly define innocence?I think because I knew that this has happened in some form in the real world made it all the more compelling. Laura is enticed into the spiders web of Marija; the little mother, groomed since childhood to believe in her power. I could feel the pressure that Laura felt, the risks she takes, giving me a dry mouth, my heart thumping as I read, it was so well done. At the time, Teodorescu was a young assistant professor with a research laboratory in ICECHIM’s rubber department. Syria becomes complicated when you leave the Sheraton hotel. Its mountains and deserts shelter a patchwork of ethnic and religious groups, most of which have oppressed each other at one time or another. France prised the country from the Ottomans, and its rule between the world wars was brief and resented. The early years of Syria’s independence were marked by relentless internal strife as coup followed coup. Compelling, atmospheric. It’s BRILLIANT’MARIAN KEYES, Sunday Times bestselling author of Again, Rachel

Through her work as a financial and political journalist, Freya Berry was inspired by watching the wives of dictators and strongmen – particularly Melania Trump during the US election in 2016. These women often carry with them an air of detachment, an aloofness that can come across as cold and indifferent, sometimes even calculating. Marija, the dictator’s wife of the title, certainly seems to be all of these things, though she’s so much more – as Laura soon discovers. Marija has a magnetic allure that Laura can’t resist, even though she knows she’s being lured into the spider’s trap. There’s a power play going on between these two women and whilst for much of the novel it feels as if Marija is the one in control, Laura has an innate tenacity that makes her willing to do whatever it takes to dig out the truth – even if it hurts her irrevocably in the process.Her first ‘recognitions’ came from France and the United States, before entering the Romanian Academy,” Betea says. “Can you excuse the interests of those who did not live in a communist dictatorship, and blame only those in the country? Or just her? That’s not fair, in my opinion. Many Syrians were intoxicated by what they saw, but fear inhibited most from coming onto the streets. Then, one night in February in a drab agricultural town called Deraa, south of Damascus, a group of schoolchildren sprayed graffiti on a wall: “It’s your turn next, doctor.” A fascinating exploration of absolute power, female agency and the complexities of complicity. Atmospheric, claustrophobic and so elegantly written' ELLERY LLOYD, New York Times bestselling author of The Club That seed was watered by a Saturday Night Live sketch, not about Melania Trump but Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka. It was a parody perfume advert for “Complicit: the fragrance for the woman who could stop all this – but won’t”. Reportedly stung by the bit, which starred Scarlett Johansson, Ivanka Trump told CBS News: “If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact then I’m complicit.”

Her mother, Sahar, had ambitious plans for Asma. Her own great-uncle had helped Hafez Assad seize power. Sahar used this connection to get a job at Syria’s embassy in London. She was also keen to promote a match between Asma and Bashar, Hafez’s second son, according to Sam Dagher, author of "Assad Or We Burn the Country”. The two met several times when Bashar was a gangly medical student in London in the 1990s.Akhras was frank about his proximity to power: his preferred opener when giving speeches was, “As the father-in-law of the president...”. “Compared to him the Syrian ambassador was a busboy,” said Yahya al-Aridi, who ran communications for the Syrian government in London. It was said that even Syria’s prime minister asked Asma’s father to forward messages to Bashar. In February 2012, a year into the Arab spring, Syria’s Fourth Armoured Division, under the command of Bashar’s younger brother, Maher, trained its artillery on Homs in western Syria. Asma’s parents had grown up in the city; now protests there were escalating into armed insurrection. Soldiers defected to the rebels and some 7,000 civilians had already died across the country. This commemorative medal from 1974 is one of only a few remaining artifacts from Elena's unique academic career. It reads: "ACADEMICIAN DOCTOR INGINER ELENA CEAUSESCU". Source: www.numisbids.com