Bangles star Susanna Hoffs has written her first novel which is set in Oxford.

The singer enjoyed smash hits with the band in the eighties including Manic Monday, Walk Like An Egyptian and Eternal Flame.

Now she has written a novel about the music industry called This Bird Has Flown, and part of it is set in Oxford.

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The romantic comedy's heroine Jane Start is an American musician in her early thirties.

She falls for an Oxford professor called Tom Hardy, and some of the scenes in the novel are set in the city, including one in an Oxford pub.

Ms Hoffs' husband is Jay Roach, a former professor who went on to direct the Austin Power films.

Oxford Mail:

It's possible the book could one day be turned into a film, directed by Mr Roach.

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Ms Hoffs said she really enjoyed writing the book, which is published by Little, Brown.

She told The Times: "I'd never written anything by myself - I'd always collaborated - I love the fun of bouncing ideas back and forth.

"I was never lonely because I had my characters. It's like going through a portal in a sci-fi movie and you're in this other world."

Hoffs, 64, lives with her husband in California and says they are now 'empty-nesters'.

Oxford Mail:

Their older son Jackson, 28, makes podcasts and Sam, 24, is a screenwriter and actor.

A biography and documentary about the Bangles are now being made and the band could get back together at some stage.

Another book is also on the cards.

Ms Hoffs added: "I'd be giggling to myself and my husband goes 'who sits there at a computer for six hours and has a good time?'

"Well, I do! The characters start to take on a life of their own."

This Bird Has Flown has already won positive reviews - it has been described as 'knockout' by The New York Times.

One reviewer on Amazon wrote: "It is an unfortunate truth that many specialists in one kind of art blithely assume that they will be as successful in another.

"Fortunately, it turns out that Susanna Hoffs can write. This Bird Has Flown is not the kind of genre fiction (steamy romance) that I would normally read, but it held my interest until the end of the book.

Oxford Mail:

"It helps that the book's heroine is also an accomplished pop singer; when she talks about how music affects her mind and her heart, she's speaking from experience, not speculation.

"I encourage Susanna Hoffs to write another book. On the strength of this one, I'll buy it on speculation - although I wouldn't mind if it was, say, an old-fashioned detective mystery or even something more fantastical."

The singer is appearing at this year's Kite Festival at Kirtlington Park, from June 9-11, where she is expected to talk about her new novel.