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7 June 2026 Book festivals are so important for connecting readers with authors, and vice versa. Writing can sometimes be a lonely pursuit, and I value every opportunity to engage with book lovers and celebrate the history of women in British Intelligence. On Sunday, I spoke to a full house at Retford Book Festival and treated them to a short reading from the end of the Prologue of Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence, published by Weidenfeld & Nico

28 May 2026 Having watched MasterChef for many years, the thought never crossed my mind that I would one day appear as a judge! In series 17, episode 22, I am recruited as a special guest, alongside six others drawn from the world of espionage. Dr Marsha Quallo-Wright, the director of technology futures at GCHQ, and former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger join me at the dinner table at the luxury hotel Raffles London at the Old War Office (OWO), alongside Charlotte Philby, Gordon C

14 May 2026 I am thrilled to announce that my debut book, Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2024, has won the Polly Corrigan Book Prize 2025. Sponsored by The King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence, the Women in Intelligence Network and the Journal of Intelligence and National Security, the Prize recognises scholarship within the realm of intelligence and security, written by female scholars and/or abou

8 May 2026 Mansfield College in Oxford has to be one of the prettiest and most welcoming campuses I have visited in the UK. It also has a special connection to the spy world. During the Second World War, the site housed the Code and Cypher Production Unit, which was responsible for making secure codes for the Allies. A team of women led by a Royal Navy Paymaster Commander, worked tirelessly to produce cipher keys and code books. I was honoured to interview one of the women in

19 March 2026 Her Secret Service has been shortlisted for the prestigious Polly Corrigan Book Prize. Sponsored by the King's Centre for Intelligence Studies at King's College London, the award recognises outstanding work in intelligence and security written by/or about women. Having my work acknowledged is a tremendous honour, and I'm certain the women of Britain's secret intelligence services, whose stories are told in my debut book, would be secretly delighted as well!

14 March 2026 I was delighted to join the alumnae of St. Hugh's College, Oxford, for their annual lunch and deliver a lecture about "The Secret World of Women in Intelligence: Station X and MI6" . The former Alumni Association President Veronica Lowe focused on the lived experiences of St Hugh's alumnae at Bletchley Park, before I shed light on one of the most secretive environments of the war, MI6, and their presence at the wartime codebreaking station.

12 March 2026 Authors rarely get the opportunity to give a talk in the home town of their book's protagonist, but in a full circle moment, I had the privilege of speaking to a full house (plus those in an overfill room) in Sidmouth about their now known local legend, Kathleen Pettigrew. The MI6 super ‘secretary’ was the first woman I started researching for my debut book Her Secret Service . I picked up her trail in the delightful coastal Devonshire town where she had spent

10 March 2026 Her Secret Service spotlighted in the window of Foyles Bookshop at Waterloo Station in London. I nipped in before my train and signed a few copies, in green ink of course!

8 March 2026 I was delighted to be invited to speak at Bletchley Park's 'Women Who Write' symposium celebrating International Women's Day. Women such as the 'real' Miss Moneypenny, Kathleen Pettigrew, a trailblazing woman in MI6's history, worked on the first floor of the mansion at the start of the war. MI6 women at Bletchley Park have not always received the recognition they deserve, in part due to the secrecy surrounding their work. I worked hard to ensure Kathleen's story

27 February 2026 It was an honour to speak at the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar about how I rescued the silenced voices of women to produce a groundbreaking account of their contributions to the history of the intelligence services. Many thanks to Professor Christopher Andrew and Dr Dan Larsen for the invitation.

25 February 2026 Students, academic staff and members of the public were treated to a talk on the remarkable women of British Intelligence. This was followed by a panel discussion exploring some of the themes of the book in relation to the modern workplace. Many thanks to Professor Abigail Hunt and Dr. Sudeshna Bhattacharya (Director for Work, Employment and Organisation Research Group) for organising the event, and all those involved in making such a memorable event. The boo

12 January 2026. Check out the latest issue of parliament's The House magazine where I explore in a four page article why it took so long to appoint a woman as the head of MI6. You can read it online free of charge HERE Physical copies of the magazine are distributed to all members of parliament, peers and sections of Westminster, as well as subscribers (subscribe HERE ). Enjoy!

8 January 2026 Her Secret Service is out now in paperback. I will let you in on a secret. You may find an extra chapter in the form of a Postscript at the end of the paperback. I won't ruin the surprise, but here's a clue: 'what was once deemed lost can indeed sometimes be found'. You can purchase a copy HERE Happy reading!

4 January 2026 The new year has got off to a great start. Her Secret Service was reviewed in the Sunday Times as one of their 'Paperbacks of the Week'. The paperback is out in the world on Thursday 8 January. You can pre-order HERE

24 October 2025 On the one year anniversary of Her Secret Service being published, episode 184 of the Bletchley Park podcast has been released. I joined Dr David Kenyon, Research Historian at Bletchley Park, and Erica Munro, Head of Content and podcast host, to discuss the little known SIS (MI6) presence at Bletchley Park during the war, which included Miss Kathleen Pettigrew, the MI6 secretary who inspired Ian Fleming's Miss Moneypenny character. You can listen on Apple Po

28 September 2025 Shipston Bookfest is an exciting new book festival in the north Cotswolds. I had the honour of appearing alongside the wonderful Mandy Robotham , a former journalist and midwife, who has penned several historical novels, including her latest bestseller Mrs Spy . Those in attendance at St. Edmund's Church, were treated to an exploration of the female spy in history and in fiction.

25 September 2025 I spoke with Rachel Dinning from The History Extra podcast (produced by the team behind the BBC History Magazine ) ,...

18 September 2025 I was delighted to accept an invitation to speak at the one day conference 'Codebreakers and Groundbreakers: Women's...

6 September 2025 I was delighted to support the launch of Dermot Turing's new book, Misread Signals: How History Overlooked Women...

1 August 2025 Her Secret Service featured in List Magazine. The article, "Hotel Review: Raffles London at The OWO, London", has been...