19/07/2026
New book by Afsana Press coming on 4th August
Old Masters in Marrakesh, a novel by Folkestone-based author James Debens
Pre-order:
https://www.afsana-press.com/old-masters-in-marrakesh
Book launch: 6 August, 7pm, at the Kollectiv Folkestone (Beton Collective):
69 The Old High Street, Folkestone, United Kingdom, CT20 1RN
Synopsis:
Max Marwell is caught between running his global art business and dealing with his own past and that of the Jewish people. Born and raised in Linz, Austria, the hometown of Hi**er and Eichmann, he is obsessed with avenging the deaths of his parents and the restitution of art looted by the N***s. Masterpieces are traced, bought, and transported to Casablanca and Marrakesh, as Max is pursued through North Africa and France. His adventures entangle him with a murder case, hunted by French police and Interpol. The novel offers a peek into the art world and the way it sometimes overlaps with less salubrious circles.
Set in Morocco and Britain at the end of 1969, the year of UK decimalisation and the Moon Landing, the novel examines how people who are inclusive and forward-looking thrive at these moments of change. At the time, Marrakesh was a meeting point for visionaries like Yves Saint Laurent and romantics looking for a continuation of the summer of love. Internationally renowned art dealer Max Marwell wishes for his son to take over his Mayfair art gallery, but the younger Marwell is an addict. Max is shipping art but also pure he**in within the crated masterpieces; this is so his son does not die from a bad dose. As the world winds into the 1970s, and as Max finds new love and breaks away from vengeance, the world of the Marwells changes drastically.
About the author:
James Debens is a writer and journalist, currently an editor at Newsweek. After his Classics degree at Gonville & Caius, Cambridge University, and journalism postgraduate qualifications at University of London, James joined The Mirror Group, breaking onto the set of the Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough, and interviewing celebrities such as Sir Ian McKellen and Joanna Lumley. James then joined the arts and leisure sections of The Daily Telegraph newspaper, spending years on the party circuit at events for Andrew Motion, Joanne Harris, Dame AS Byatt and many others.
James wrote TV previews for the Sunday Telegraph magazine. He then compiled the Critical List for The Sunday Times, including new books, and edited the columns of AA Gill and Germaine Greer. He later was an editor at a trio of magazine publishing houses and worked at The Guardian for a spell before writing catalogues for billionaire investors and articles for Twitter and England rugby. James’ debut novel, Where is Your God Now, was published in 2021. Old Masters in Marrakesh is his second novel.
