Off the King's Road: Lost and Found in London

by Phyllis Raphael

"The city had begun to enter me. It was the ultimate distraction. London was an endless maze of places I could lose myself….Walking, I wanted to live on every gorgeous London street." —from Off the King's Road

In an understated, urbane style that recalls such memoirists as Joan Didion and Paula Fox, Phyllis Raphael describes how she landed in London in December 1968 as the restless wife of a Hollywood movie producer. She had brought her three young children from Los Angeles and the plan was to live in London for three months on MGM's dime while her husband was producing a film there. Instead—in a maneuver Raphael wasn't expecting—he left her for an eighteen-year-old actress. And in a decision she could never have predicted, Raphael stayed.

In Off the King's Road , Raphael writes of being an exile and an accident victim, an expatriate let loose in a country and in a world that in the turbulent 1960s was becoming expatriated from itself. She arrived in London naïve, dependent, and dissatisfied, and left several years later as another person entirely—a woman in command, for better or worse, of her own life. Written with seductive elegance, humor, and sexual candor, Off the King's Road speaks to women of all ages of the possibilities of a life transformed by circumstance.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2007

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phyllis Raphael recalls two years of her life living in London from 1969-71. She moved to London because her husband was a movie producer and was sent there to shoot a film. Shortly after their arrival he announced that he was leaving Phyllis and their three children because he had fallen in love with a young actress. Although it was an interesting time in history, set in an interesting place, I got the feeling that I really needed to be there to fully appreciate it. The descriptions of her friends and lovers weren't fully developed and neither was her story. It was a quick read, but average, quite average.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was well written, and the author provided beautiful descriptions of London and the various settings she found herself in while living there. However, I just had a lot of trouble actually caring about the characters, and I always felt like I was waiting for the story to begin.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author is a Barnard College Alumna. Fun and touching story with lots of insiders gossip on commonly known celebrities/authors/artists of the Swinging 60's in London. I took my rating down a few notches because although I recommend the book, but it isn't going to make any history books.