Untold Story
First edition (UK)
AuthorMonica Ali
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
PublishedDoubleday (UK)
Scribner's (US)
Publication date
2011
Media typePrint
Pages272
ISBN978-1451635485 (first edition, hardcover)
OCLC699767337
823.92
LC ClassPR6101.L45 U58

Untold Story is a novel by Monica Ali, her fourth book after two novels and a collection of short stories.[1] It asks what would have happened if Princess Diana had not died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 but had arranged for her own disappearance and tried to live an undiscovered life in a small American town.[2] In the novel, Princess Diana is portrayed in fictional form as an English expat named Lydia.[3][4] The story is told through a combination of third person narrative, diary entries of the princess's former personal secretary, Lawrence Standing, and letters written by Lydia.[3][4]

In May 2011, it was reported that Ali had sold the film rights to British production company Cloud Eight Films.[5]

Ali claimed in 2022 that one critic called it 'a curious marriage of author and subject matter'. Ali has spoken of how damaging she experienced what she saw as the stereotyping of her work to be.[6]

References

  1. ^ "'Untold Story': What If Princess Diana Had Survived?". NPR. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  2. ^ Joanna Briscoe (2 April 2011). "Untold Story by Monica Ali". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  3. ^ a b Kakutani, Michiko (13 June 2011). "Imagining a Secret Life for Diana". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Untold Story by Monica Ali – review". The Guardian. London. 14 July 2012.
  5. ^ McClurg, Jocelyn (25 May 2011). "Princess Diana lives on in new novel". USA Today. Retrieved 7 December 2016 – via Gannett Company.
  6. ^ Wolfe-Robinson, Maya (7 February 2022). "Monica Ali says reaction to previous novel caused 10 years of depression". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2022.


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