BOOK

Published by DARKSPUR PRESS
Publication Date: January 27th, 2026

Available at: Amazon, B&N (Links coming soon)

In his bold and timely new work, The Gossip Columnist, Martyn Burke takes on government propaganda, censorship, and media control-wrapped in a gripping love story told with horror, humor, and hope.

Set in the glittering but treacherous world of 1930s Berlin, the story follows Bella, a young journalist working under a hard-edged editor, Paul, whom she soon finds herself drawn to. . While the Nazi regime rises, gossip morphs into a weapon, and Hitler's aide Josef Goebbels ruthlessly seizes control of all media.

As violence and repression escalate, Bella and Paul are forced underground—hidden in a brothel, hunted for what they know, and for who they are. They live, fall in love, and bear witness.

While a novel, The Gossip Columnist is rooted in truth—all major characters and many events are based on real people and historical facts. The result is a story that feels uncannily relevant today.

As a work of fiction, The Gossip Columnist, is relentlessly real. All its major characters actually existed. As did, the terrifying events they lived through. The result is a story that feels uncannily relevant today.

PRAISE FOR MARTYN BURKE'S WORK

THE GOSSIP COLUMNIST
"In this engrossing novel, Burke brings to vivid life the "desolation of the years" following World War I and the sexual licentiousness that came to characterize Berlin."
"A stunning novel crackling with historical insight."
-Kirkus Reviews

IVORY JOE
"Burke has created a vast, unruly, quintessentially American landscape here…Prepare to get carried away… Burke is a storyteller od lavish generosity…”
- Washington Post

"Ivory Joe is a real pleasure..."
-New York Times

THE COMMISSAR'S REPORT
"Martyn Burke's novel is a wonder of intense, cinematic storytelling."
-Wall Street Journal