Monday, April 17, 2017

The Hollywood Daughter

The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott, 305 pages

Jesse Malloy grew up during the golden age of Hollywood, attempting to balance the glitz of Hollywood (her dad's a studio publicist) with the constraints of her all-girls Catholic school (her devout mother's choice) and idolizing Ingrid Bergman through it all. Most of this book is told through an extended flashback, a memory that comes to Jesse after she receives a mysterious invitation to the 1959 Academy Awards. The flashback includes several run-ins with Bergman, as well as plenty of ruminations on McCarthyism. I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It's OK, though not nearly as good as Alcott's A Touch of Stardust (which took place during the filming of Gone with the Wind). The Hollywood Daughter, while a serviceable escapist read, just doesn't have the thrill of Stardust. Kinda meh.

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