Belle de Jour (writer)

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For the 1967 French film, see Belle de jour.

Belle de Jour is promoted as the nom de plume of a former London call girl.[1] Under this name she maintains a successful blog, Belle de Jour: diary of a London call girl which by 2003 had achieved selection by The Guardian as its blog of the year[2] and has given rise to two books published in both the UK and US.

The name recalls the 1928 novel Belle de jour by Joseph Kessel and the 1967 film of the same name starring Catherine Deneuve, made by Studio Canal. It means "morning glory" in French (literally "daytime beauty").

Contents

[edit] Real identity

There has been speculation in the media as to the real identity of the author; whether Belle really was a call girl; and whether her diary entries are based on fact or are entirely fictitious. Belle has always maintained that she is who she claims to be and her publisher, Orion Books, continues to print her books as part of its "Non Fiction/Memoir" line.[3]

[edit] Television spin-off

A television series loosely based on the first book was in development with Channel 4 in the UK, but eventually aired on ITV2 as Secret Diary of a Call Girl. The first series aired from 27 September 2007 to 15 November 2007 starring Billie Piper as Belle. It is now being re-aired in the United States on Showtime.

[edit] Other work

Through mid-2006, Belle contributed a regular column in the Daily Telegraph.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Belle de Jour. Orion Books. Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
  2. ^ British Blog Awards 2003. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-11-21.
  3. ^ The Intimate Adventures Of A London Call Girl. Orion Books. Retrieved on 2007-11-21.

[edit] External links

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