I absolutely love a good Hollywood tale. This looks excellent and the cover also is very eye dat hung as well. I think this would make a great book club pick and I cannot wait to share my full thoughts and review on this one. I’m so excited to read what happened to this Hollywood ingenue and how she reclaims her power back.

A searing, visceral account of #metoo sex abuse in Hollywood. In this stunning debut novel we first meet indie filmstar Grace Turner in nondescript streets lined with bungalows in Anaheim, LA. She has fled from Hollywood to live with her dysfunctional family in mysterious circumstances. Eventually Grace, who was discovered by movie mogul Able Yorke aged 14, at an English school, returns to Hollywood to stage her comeback.
Having battled against addiction, and unable to sustain friendships, a marriage or achieve any understanding with her family, Grace is brittle and broken. The desire to avenge Able Yorke for sexually abusing her is strong. Unlike other books which tackle patriarchal sex abuse and misogyny in film land, Grace's disintegration, cased by years of being overworked and gas lighted, is honestly portrayed. We buy into her distress, her numbness and her overwhelming challenge in confronting the past.

I really enjoyed this book overall, to show how Hollywood can take so much from a person but also showing the weight of control versus having your own control was very empowering.

The first half of this book was my favourite.
There was a sense of dread as hints were dropped, what did actually happen.
The fraught relationship with parents, sister, pretty much everyone.
For me the second half didn't quite live up to that promise.
Still a great read.
Some very uncomfortable moments, but humour too.

This felt like a slow-burn while I was reading it but, on finishing, I think that was a deliberate decision by Berman. This is certainly not the first 'me too' novel around but many of them that I've read have a sort of thriller-y pose with some kind of mystery or secret to be uncovered at their heart that gives a page-turner vibe. This one doesn't. It takes its topic seriously and with the gravity it deserves, and refuses to be derailed with Hollywood soap opera plotlines or mystery tropes.

Instead this focuses closely on Grace Turner, an English schoolgirl of just fourteen who is 'discovered' and flown to Hollywood to star in a trilogy of films. Her parents go with her but are unable to shield Grace from the vagaries of the film industry - and the inevitable power play of the director, Able, for whom she is a muse.

Shifting through time, this picks up Grace in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction at just twenty-four and with a failed marriage behind her. Old beyond her years, she is a flawed protagonist and narrator but one to whom I warmed greatly. I especially liked her negotiations that enable her to call out abuse done to her without being reduced to no more than a powerless victim - a hard position to come to. This is also excellent on Grace's difficult relationships with her parents, her sister and friends. An intelligent novel about Hollywood and gender dynamics - exactly what I wanted to read.