That’s a novel idea! Hugh’s wife writes a book... about loving a star
THEY say you should write about something you know well, and Hugh Grant’s Swedish wife Anna seems to have taken that advice to heart for her debut novel.
With echoes of Hugh’s role in the movie Notting Hill and her life on the arm of one of the world’s best known actors, Anna Eberstein has teamed up with her sister Mari to write Plus En, which translates as Plus One.
The novel, which is published under the pseudonym Elsa Vildvin, tells the story of a woman called Nike who falls in love with a worldfamous movie star named Jack.
However, Nike soon discovers that dating a star comes with the pitfall of constantly living in the public eye. It was published last week by Swedish publishing house Lind & Co and runs to 300 pages.
The book seems to have many similarities to Anna’s own life and it draws comparisons with Notting Hill, the 1999 romcom in which Hugh plays bumbling bookshop owner William Thackeray who is thrust into the spotlight when he begins dating movie star American Hollywood Anna Scott, played by Julia Roberts.
Hugh, 62, who married Anna in 2018, took to social media site X to praise her, saying: ‘I am so proud of my wife who has written her first novel.’ Hugh has two daughters and a son with Anna and also shares two children with Tinglan Hong.
On becoming a father in his 50s, Hugh has said: ‘It was the nicest thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s just lovely to have all that love around. Suddenly you love someone more than yourself. It’s unheard of in my case and it’s all enchanting.’
If anyone can empathise with Anna’s book it is model Liz Hurley who became well known as Hugh’s girlfriend when the pair dated after they met on the set of Spanish film Remando Al Viento in 1988. They separated in 2000 but remain close friends and Hugh is godfather to Liz’s son Damian.