After a year of marriage rumors of Maddy's marriage spew the tabloids, even old friends think her marriage is not real, yet as she works harder she feels as if she is failing and sinking further. I disliked her Man Booker winner, The Gathering. I prefer people who know who they are.” In the way she presents herself to the world and also her internal monologue, Maddy’s key defining characteristic is a lack of self-awareness, a type particular to young, ambitious women, which can be easily confused for self-possession. I´m more interested in the former topic and not sure if the book is for me or maybe to "literary". Like Cecilia Brady, the “producer’s daughter” in F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon, who says that people either take Hollywood for granted or treat it with contempt, Norah is careful to identify a pair of pitfalls – the laziness of journalism and the arrogance of cultural history. And I might have even rated it higher except that the story revolved around Maddy Freed who was just...ugh. Her obvious talent leads her to believe that the rumours are not true and she marries and stands firmly by his side as rumours continue to surface. We will discover how Katherine O’Dell spent time on the stage. This book definitely falls into the “Summer Read” category. Katherine boards the Queen Mary at Southampton, where “her appearance at the rails was captured by Pathé News”. That’s the only reason I finished the book. Her other novels are Motherland, Prospect Park … A nonsensical and all over the place plot, unlikable and paranoid characters, inconsistent and confusing chronology, and ridiculous and melodramatic dialogue. Simon & Schuster. Much akin to the movies Maddy wants to write and act in, the novel is very much a character study. SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?? Be the first to ask a question about The Actress. You won't be missing a damn thing. Your review has been submitted successfully. Because this certainty is the underpinning of the entirety of her personal and professional lives, she holds on to it despite constant signs that she’s being duped and used. I’ve been reading entirely too much genre fiction and not even the best of it, so a palate cleanser was due and nothing does the trick quite like a work of proper literature. Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014. It's basically the fictionalized version of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and it's just done SO POORLY. An international bestseller, it was the focus of a publishers' bidding war at the 2013 London Book Fair. Some parts were very interesting however, it was like I didn't want to read any more but couldn't put it down. The great strength of The Actress lies in Sohn’s narrativizing of Maddy’s version of that experience, her journey from innocent to hardened veteran, as a Gaslight-style mystery. And because I didn't find her believable in the middle of the book, her turnaround at the end left me cold. Join Slate Plus to continue reading, and you’ll get unlimited access to all our work—and support Slate’s independent journalism. The tension between Maddy and her longtime boyfriend Dan is present prior to her being swept off her feet by Steven, but the way she goes about everything makes it seem like she never respected the relationship despite all the pining she does over it later. It went nowhere and I should have ditched it right at the start. The old newspaper clippings about Katherine are “unreadable”. If I could give it 4.5 I would. Maddy was so naive as to be obtuse most of the time, and the book moves through the years so quickly (encompassing at least 5 years) that emotional depth was impossible to establish. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Good beach book. Questions of his fidelity and sexual orientation aside, the few scenes where they actually interact are either fights, make-ups, or times when Maddy is almost sure she's being manipulated. Her other novels are Motherland, Prospect Park West, My Old Man, and Run Catch Kiss. Nothing that could not be learned or read from People magazine-which would have been more interesting. So here's the deal: I read maybe 50 pages of this, was LOVING it, had to put it down for a while because I had like six library holds come in that I had to read more urgently, and now it's been over a month since I've touched Actress and I'm at a weird place where I'm not in the mood to pick it back up where I left off but it's too soon to start it over. The great strength of The Actress lies in Sohn’s narrativizing of Maddy’s… journey from innocent to hardened veteran, as a Gaslight-style mystery. Its characters are subject to other world pressures dictated by the public eye, but the novel reads like a well-written, far-sighted biography, for these characters cannot see what is so close or important, what is real or true. New to the scene, Maddy Freed finds herself being whisked away - from the indie film she co wrote and starred in, from her boyfriend, from all she knew - to the world of Berlin openings, directors in Europe, and the famous actor Steven Weller. Maddy is subsequently invited to join Steven and Bridget at the Berlin Film Festival, with the pretense of auditioning for the female lead in Weller’s next film. “Every time she felt her life could not grow stranger, something happened to make her think she had been wrong.”, “He was like Tennessee Williams, shooting three bull’s-eyes in a row, all with his blind eye.”, John Grisham's Recommended Thriller Reading List.
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