The debut novel of UK TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson is due for release in September 2011. According to Chick Lit Club the book, titled The Importance of Being Myrtle, focuses on Myrtle, who gains a new life when her strict husband dies. Ulrika has previously written an autobiography called Honest, but this will be her first foray into fiction.Myrtle and Austin have shared a dutiful marriage for over 40 years and, during that time, her life has been one of meek submission to an authoritarian husband. But everything changes in an instant when Austin collapses on the bus and dies in the arms of Gianni, a kind-hearted gardener who makes it his mission to find the dead man's family and share his sympathy. Even without the confines of her marriage, Myrtle finds herself trapped by her newfound freedom. Who is she without Austin? How can she cope with no friends to call upon? And whatever became of the carefree, passionate girl she used to be? Friendship can be found in the unlikeliest of places, though, and Gianni and Dorothy, her neighbour, bring the fragile and unhappy Myrtle into their vivid, warm world. But Austin's death has revealed startling new questions Myrtle's two daughters want answered and the secrets of the past must be brought into the light, as must Myrtle herself, before any of them can move on.
