You know I love writing about real women who defied the odds—and my new novel Run, Darling may be the most thrilling escape story I’ve told. In fact, I think it rivals Kleopatra’s harrowing escape from her own twisted family!
Many of us remember the Gabors, the scandalous 20th century beauty icons, but few know that before global celebrity and multiple husbands, they were a family of young Hungarian Jewish women desperate to escape the Nazis’ rising tyranny.
Run, Darling follows the dazzling sisters, Zsa Zsa, Eva, and Magda across continents as they flee WWII Europe with nothing but their wit, charm, and desperate desire to save themselves and each other. From Eastern Europe to London, Turkey, Iraq, India, Berlin, and Old Hollywood, it’s a tale of bold choices, death-defying risks, impossible glamour, and survival against a backdrop of unparalleled cruelty.
If you loved Kleopatra for her cunning power, or Dracula in Love for its sensual defiance, or the politics and allure of the muses of Leonardo’s Swans, Run, Darling brings comparable heroines, armed with female intuition, family secrets, daring plans, and lipstick. ☺
✨Preorder now and send proof of purchase to info@karenessex.com and you’ll be automatically entered into a giveaway to win a signed first edition hardcover copy of Kleopatra, now a collectors’ item! (For U.S. residents only)
I can’t wait for you to meet these fabulous women who, like so many in my stories, used the tools they had—beauty, brains, and the support of one another—to overcome obstacles and rewrite their fates.
You will want to take them along on all your summer travels!
“Become who you are” is actually Nietzsche’s directive, but I’ve made it my life’s theme — in both my work and my way of being.
It’s the perfect rallying cry for my heroines — women who strip away expectation, status, and fear until what’s left is the raw, radiant, authentic self. Become who you are isn’t just advice — it’s an invite to raise the stakes and fearlessly face whatever obstacles are thrown your way. I believe that this is what literature can offer: not just escape, but recognition. A reminder that claiming one’s full self — intellect, ambition, desire — is the most dangerous and divine thing a woman (or man) can do. But it always comes with challenges and risks.... Read more.
As I write this, I’m reflecting on an experience that has left me both grateful and contemplative. I recently fell in love with a spacious condo that has the floor to ceiling windows and inspiring view that I’ve dreamt of for years.
Knowing I could negotiate a better price if I paid cash, I borrowed from my IRA to make the purchase—risky because I had only 60 days to return the money or face a six-figure tax bill on the withdrawal. Thus when the buyer of my previous home missed three closings, I had to scramble for quickie “bridge loan” to replenish my IRA in time. While these loans are expensive, they’re less costly than paying a massive tax penalty. In the end, I was proud that I had the financial savvy and wherewithal to aggressively pursue and land the loan.... Read more.
Women are famously inept at asking for what we deserve—a raise, a long-awaited promotion, a rest, equal pay for equal work, help around the house, help at the office, or yes, even an orgasm. I thought I'd moved past all that, but no.
We think of royal or aristocratic women as being spoiled ladies of leisure, but my research into the past demonstrates that the opposite was true.
At the age of 18, when Princess Kleopatra was named co-regent by her addled father, she inherited a kingdom rife with crises: drought, rebellion, massive debt, marauding Roman soldiers sent to “protect” Egypt, conniving eunuchs eager for a coup, and sibling rivalries that would eventually become fatal (for the others!). Don’t know about you, but I had more trivial problems in my teens.... Read more.
