Published 2nd April 2026 by Michael Joseph.
From the cover of the book:
London, October, 1956. A glittering Royal Film Premiere. The whole world is watching . . .
Tonight, Elizabeth II will formally greet an array of stars. Though she was not born to be Queen, this young mother and wife has embraced her patriotic duty and its unforgiving demands.
A limousine pulls up. Out steps a vision in dazzling gold: Marilyn Monroe. A money-making machine for Hollywood, with curves that drive men wild and a smile that lets women know she’s in on the joke.
As the two most famous women in the world come face to face, they look to be worlds apart. Yet beneath the glamorous costumes, both are fighting to keep the men they love, while trying to do their work in a man’s world. And they have spent the summer of 1956 battling secret demons the public could never imagine.
Now, Marilyn steps forward. These photographs will be on the front page of every newspaper in the morning.
But this isn’t their first meeting. And the story behind the headlines is even more sensational . . .
***********
London, 1956. In the run up to the star-studded film premiere of The Battle of the River Plate in November, two very famous women are struggling to balance their personal and very public lives - Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, and the Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe.
The book mostly unfurls in the summer of 1956, with forays back in time to 1936 and 1946 which fill in some back story. In 1956, Elizabeth is still in the early days of her long innings as Queen, and Marilyn Monroe is in London to film The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier.
Having loved all of Julie's previous books, I was really looking forward to seeing how she would find common ground between two seemingly incongruous figures whose lives have already been pulled apart so much. She does this by cleverly writing about them as the real women that lie behind the legends, Lilibet and Norma Jeane, delving into their attempts to balance public and private personas.
For Lilibet, this means negotiating the demands of Royal duty, family recriminations, and walking a fine line in her marriage to Philip. Meanwhile, Norma Jeanne suffers a crisis of confidence in her acting abilities, and finds her new marriage to much older playwright, Arthur Miller, is not the bed of roses she was hoping for. Both women are discovering that the task of being all things to everyone is impossible, especially under the intense scrutiny of the media, hungry for a scandalous scoop.
I really enjoyed how Julie tackles Lilibet's character, bringing out her shy, softer side (though not without a core of iron), but at times it is difficult to put aside the fact that she is living a life of privilege, for all her admirable dedication to duty - fans of The Crown will love her. For me, it is Julie's portrayal of the fragile Norma Jeane that tears your heart to shreds, which is perhaps inevitable given hindsight - her desperate need to be loved, her palpable loneliness, her battle with endometriosis, and her unhappiness at being let down once again by a man who wants a pocket Marilyn Monroe for his personal entertainment, are laid bare for all to see. Tears were shed.
This is Julie's must ambitious novel yet, and I applaud the way she makes you see the struggles of these women were more similar than you might imagine in love, loss and being taken seriously, despite the gulf in their backgrounds. Julie's women are always so well written in rich tones of light and shade, and her Lilibet and Norma Jeane are no exception. Compulsive reading.
Elizabeth and Marilyn is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me a proof of this book.
About the author:
Julie Owen Moylan is the author of three novels: That Green Eyed Girl, 73 Dove Street and Circus of Mirrors. Her debut novel That Green Eyed Girl was a Waterstones’ Welsh Book of the Month and the official runner up for the prestigious Paul Torday Memorial Prize. It was also shortlisted for Best Debut at the Fingerprint Awards and featured at the Hay Festival as one of its ‘Ten at Ten’. 73 Dove Street was a Waterstones’ Books of 2023 and a Daily Mail Historical Fiction Book of the Year. As a filmmaker Julie won the Celtic Media Award for her graduation film “BabyCakes” before going on to win Best Short Film at the Swansea Film Festival.
Her writing and short stories have appeared in a variety of publications including Sunday Express, The Independent, New Welsh Review and Good Housekeeping.
She has a Masters in Filmmaking and an additional qualification in Creative Writing & English Literature. Julie is an alumna of the Faber Academy.
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