Shanghai Demimondaine - Nick Hordern

Join us at the launch of Nick Hordern's

Shanghai Demimondaine
From Sex Worker to Society Matron

3pm Saturday November 25th

Shanghai in the 1930s had a booming prostitution industry which gave the city a certain reputation across Asia, and the beautiful Australian Lorraine Murray was one of its stars - until her patron Edmund Toeg convinced her to leave the high class brothel where she worked.

Against the backdrop of the Japanese onslaught in China, and guided by the American author Emily Hahn - the 'China Coast Correspondent for the New Yorker' - Lorraine finally put her time as a prostitute behind her. After a stint in wartime Australia as a counter-intelligence informant, Lorraine moved to England, where she was reunited with both Emily and Edmund.

Shanghai Demimondaine is the story of how her friendship with Emily helped Lorraine turn her life around - and how the feisty writer mined their friendship for her bestselling books.

RSVP essential.

Please be sure to arrive 5 - 10 minutes early to get a seat.

Nick Hordern grew up in Sydney. After school he worked in a variety of jobs in the Outback, including on the Moomba to Sydney gas pipeline and on a cattle station in the Kimberley. Eventually he completed a degree at the University of Sydney, the basis of a lifelong interest in Asian history.

For a decade Nick worked in the public service as a diplomat, analyst and policy advisor. Joining the Department of Foreign Affairs, he had postings in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Later, he worked in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Nick then worked as a political staffer in Parliament House in Canberra before switching to journalism, spending sixteen years with the Australian Financial Review, including as a senior writer.

He now lives on the South Coast of New South Wales, reading a lot, writing a lot and paddling a kayak around Burrewarra Point.