Blanche d'Alpuget

Blanche d'Alpuget is an Australian novelist and biographer, and the second wife of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke.cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title='I really wanted to kill Bob,' Blanche reveals |url= http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/i-really-wanted-to-kill-bob/2008/07/23/1216492541175.html|work= Sydney Morning Herald|publisher= Fairfax|date= 2008-07-24|accessdate=2008-08-21 ] cite web |url= http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2335904.htm |title= Panellists - All’s fair in love and politics |accessdate=2008-08-21 |author= |date= |work= Q&A|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation]

Biography

Blanche was born in Sydney on 3 January 1944. Her father was Lou d'Alpuget the editor of The Sun-Herald. She worked at the Mirror before moving to Indonesia with her first husband Tony Pratt.

Her first book "Dangerous Visions", a book of short stories, was published in 1967. Her biography of Sir Richard Kirby was released in 1977. Kirby (1904-2001) was a member of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission from 1947 to 1973, and its President since 1956. He was also a member of the Australian War Crimes Commission.

Her best known novel is "Turtle Beach", which won the Age Book of the Year Award in 1981. A film adaption was released in 1992 starring Greta Scacchi, Joan Chen and Jack Thompson.

Blanche d'Alpuget first met Bob Hawke in 1970 while working for the Australian Embassy information officecite web |url= http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24107042-5012694,00.html|title= The secret life of Blanche|accessdate=2008-08-21 |author= |date=2008-08-02 |work= The Austraslian |publisher=News Limited] . Their paths crossed again in 1976, when she interviewed him as President of the Australian Council of Trade Unionscite web |url= http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24107042-5012694,00.html|title= The secret life of Blanche|accessdate=2008-08-21 |author= |date=2008-08-02 |work= The Austraslian |publisher=News Limited] . Although he was married to Hazel Hawke, he and d'Alpuget began an affair. Hawke proposed marriage in 1978, but later withdraw the offer saying "Divorce could cost Labor three per cent." In 1979 he told d'Alpuget that he was leaving Hazel and wanted to marry her; however, he later changed his mind and the affair ended. Blanche was initially so upset at Hawke's decision not to leave Hazel that she considered suicide or killing him, but they reconciled and remained friends—so much so that she became his official biographer.

The following year he was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Wills, representing the Australian Labor Party. He was part of Bill Hayden's Shadow Ministry. From 1980 to 1982 d'Alpuget worked closely with Hawke in preparing his biography, which was published in 1982 to good reviews. In February 1983, he took over from Hayden as Leader of the Opposition. The following month Labor defeated the Liberal/National coalition led by Malcolm Fraser and Hawke became Prime Minister.

In 1988 Hawke and d'Alpuget resumed their affair but he remained ostensibly committed to Hazel during his prime ministership. After he left office in 1991, he and Hazel announced their separation and later divorced. Blanche d'Alpuget and Bob Hawke were married in 1995. She had been married previously and had a son named Louis.

D'Alpuget has claimed that she was influenced by inaccuracies in her Wikipedia listing to "set the record straight" in her autobiographical book "On Longing" (2008). cite episode
title = All’s fair in love and politics
episodelink =
series = Q and A
serieslink = Q&A (TV program)
airdate = 2008-08-21
season = 1
number = 14 ]

Awards

* 1981 The Age Book of the Year award for Fiction for "Turtle Beach"

Published works

Novels
* 1967, "Dangerous Visions: 33 Original Stories"
* 1980, "Monkeys in the Dark"
* 1981, "Turtle Beach"
* 1986, "Winter in Jerusalem"
* 1993, "White Eye" Biographies
* 1977, "Mediator: A biography of Sir Richard Kirby"
* 1982, "Robert J. Hawke : a biography"
* 2008, "On Longing"

References

Bibliography

*cite book | author=Blanche d'Alpuget | title=Robert J Hawke | publisher=Schwartz| year=1982 | id=ISBN 0-86753-001-4