It was supposed to chart the remarkable rise of Liz Truss - and had to be quickly amended to capture her dramatic fall. But what does her new biography say about her Norfolk background? CHRIS BISHOP reports
When journalists Harry Cole and James Heale were putting the finishing touches to their biography of Liz Truss, to ensure it was in the shops for Christmas, they thought they had captured the incredible story of her ascent to the highest office in the land.
They then had to quickly rework the final chapters after the South West Norfolk MP's spell in Downing Street ended in spectacular and speedy style.
But now the book - Out of the Blue: The inside story of the unexpected rise and rapid fall of Liz Truss - is finally on the shelves, many in Norfolk will be interested to see how the county comes out of it.
For while it does not just lift the lid on how her premiership crashed and burned, it also rakes over one or two embers which may still be smouldering in Norfolk.
The authors delve all the way back to her childhood and her first flickers of political ambition as an Oxford University student.
But it was her brush with the so-called Turnip Taliban shortly after being selected to contest South West Norfolk which first brought the ambitious Ms Truss to the nation's attention.
So what do we learn about Norfolk from the book...?
We don't know much about Google
Shortly after Ms Truss was selected to run for South West Norfolk, members of her constituency association became aware of an affair which had been widely reported three years earlier, but, the authors say, "evidently had not percolated to the quiet market town of Swaffham".
John Mortimer, a member of the Swaffham Conservative Club, said: "How does somebody from London understand the Norfolk way of life? They make out we're stupid, saying details of her affair were on Google, but no one in Norfolk knows how to use Google."
She didn't know much about cows
"She's a bright girl," said one critic, quoted in the book. "But she doesn't know one end of a cow from another."
Another said: "I don't care what passes for decency in Notting Hill, but people in this part of the country believe in proper standards."
Turnips faced their own questions
"Some of the Turnips are far from paragons of virtue themselves and so perhaps should be a little less strident in their attacks," said one Truss supporter.
Sir Jeremy Bagge, dubbed Chief Turnup by the book's authors, rejected claims he was "anti-women", telling the Telegraph: "I have got absolutely nothing against women. Who cooks my lunch? Who cooks my dinner?"
News from Swaffham
"The most momentous thing to have happened in Swaffham since a cardboard box blew down the High Street," opined Jeremy Paxman, live on Newsnight, after Ms Truss defeated a motion to deselect her by constituency activists.
Afterwards, she told reporters: "What the people here really want is somebody who is going to live locally and address the issues. That is what I am going to do and they are not interested in the kind of flimflam there has been in the press."
Trains of thought
"Her attention to the local stuff was just superb," said one of her researchers after Ms Truss joined the ranks of Norfolk's MPs at the 2010 election.
"She managed to single-handedly double the train frequency in her constituency.
"Instead of just shouting I want this, she would be like the person under the car bonnet trying to fix it."
Farmers' friend
By 2014, when she became environment secretary - her agricultural knowledge seemed to be increasing.
Then prime minister David Cameron, who appointed her, told Farmer's Weekly: "She's at a farming constituency herself in Norfolk. She has shown great interest in this industry."
Baroness Gillian Shephard - former South West Norfolk MP - said: "She'll be a great success at the job because she is so hard-working."
Shooting county
Ms Truss was seldom seen in South Norfolk after Boris Johnson made her international trade secretary, a role which saw her jet off around the world doing trade deals.
At a meeting in Canberra, she spotted a photograph on the wall showing women armed with shotguns.
She asked Australian environment minister Bridget McKenzie: "Do you shoot? You must come over and shoot in Norfolk."
Back to basics in Norfolk?
After her spell as the shortest-serving PM in British history, many are asking what is next for Ms Truss.
Following her resignation, on October 20, she told tearful staff: "Don't worry, I'm relieved it's over. At least I've been prime minister."
She has since pledged to return to the backbenches, from where she will go back in to bat for her Norfolk constituents.
Out of the Blue: The inside story of the unexpected rise and rapid fall of Liz Truss by Harry Cole and James Heale is published by HarperCollins (£20)
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