What a fascinating biography of Merle Oberon (neé Queenie Thompson), the first South Asian nominated for Best Actress Oscar in 1936. Except, much of the world had no idea until much, much later. Oberon had to hide her heritage if she had any hope of making it in Hollywood. Sen’s book follows Oberon’s career from her first roles in England to her determination to break into Hollywood to her to her attempts at reviving her career later in life and all the struggles in between. Sen also covers the many ups and downs of her personal life.

What is particularly interesting about this biography is that in following Oberon, Sen also provides a history of Hollywood. The ways in which the expectations of Hollywood, from the Hayes Code to the downfall of the studio system to changes in who is considered a “start,” has a direct impact on Oberon’s life and career. So we not only get a biography of Oberon, but, in some ways, we also get a biography of Hollywood.

Alongside this is an exploration of perceptions of South Asians in the US in early part of the 1900s. Anti-Hindu sentiments (and, at that time, “Hindu” was a stand in for anyone from what was then known as India) in the 1920s and 1930s deeply impacted Oberon’s ability to be in the world as herself. She was forced to hide her identity and fears of the truth coming to light followed her until her death, even as sentiments towards South Asians (sort of) changed. The disconnect between who she was and who she had to be will likely resonate with many of us who must navigate two cultures and find a merge our two (or more) parts into a whole.

Merle Oberon’s story is not only fascinating but also highlights aspects of US and Hollywood history that are often forgotten or ignored. And I cannot recommend this book enough!

Old Hollywood is such a mystery to many modern movie viewers. And part of that, is the fact that so many stars were painted over with a white brush to be able to fit in and find work. Through Love, Queenie we are given the beautiful and tragic story of Mel Oberon. I believe it is hard for modern audiences to realize the full extent of what non-white actors had to go through and how the racism and the laws born from that really affected people of color at the time. Mayukh Sen beautifully paints the full breadth of Mel Oberon's journey to and through Hollywood and her sacrifices.

Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was about 19 when I first saw the Merle Oberon/Laurence Olivier movie version of Wuthering Heights, and I was charmed by both stars. Then, I saw the 1935 movie version of The Scarlet Pimpernel with Oberon and Leslie Howard. I greatly admired her acting, and throughout the years, heard some stories of the behind-the-scenes activity. Somehow, despite disparaging remarks made in publications when Oberon was at the height of her fame, the fact that she was South Asian was forgotten for decades.

I enjoyed reading about Merle’s life and her time in Hollywood. Because I had only seen some of her black and white movies, I never really thought anything about her skin color, which was darker than her WASP counterparts. She tanned very easily and was disparaged by producers and directors and even makeup artists through the years. She lived a life in fear of people finding out that she wasn’t white.

Love, Queenie was a great old Hollywood read, revealing how Merle Oberon denied her heritage for decades because #HollywoodSoWhite. Now, people are embracing her South Asian heritage even though Oberon could never truly do that during her lifetime. She received an Oscar nomination for one of her roles, making her, like Hattie McDaniel, a first. When Michelle Yeoh was all the talk last Oscar season, a reporter thought she was the first South Asian actress to be nominated for Best Actress, and Yeoh politely corrected the interviewer, mentioning Oberon as the first.

There are some absolutely horrific details about how Oberon’s “mother” made it impossible for Merle to have children when she was old enough. And her whole family dynamic was shocking for the time. I’m not going to give any spoilers, but Oberon’s personal life was as full of drama as her on-screen personas.

If you love old Hollywood, you’d probably enjoy this book. Oberon’s career was not as fruitful as it could have been, so she’s largely been forgotten, but the importance of her role in Hollywood at a time when passing as white was a real thing. This was a very well researched and informative book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I probably would not have gravitated to this book but I loved the author's first book, so I decided to read this one and I loved it. I really appreciated the introduction section which gives great insight into how the author organized, researched and shared Merle Oberon's life. There's so much misinformation about her life and I was happy to read this well researched account. It gives the reader a lot to think about in terms of identity and safety in that time period which pretty much is happening right now. There is so much to learn from history and not repeating it. I enjoyed learning about the film industry and how that evolved as Merle acted in Britain and America. Reading about the different ways she had to hide and navigate this industry was tough. I am amazed at how many movies Merle acted in and I am looking forward to watching many of them. Overall, I am so glad I read this book and I highly recommend it!

Love, Queenie is a stunningly comprehensive biography of Merle Oberon, who we now know as the first South Asian actress in Hollywood.

As a South Asian person entwined in the world of entertainment and journalism, I was surprised by how little I knew of Merle’s life and the era in which she marked her incredible rise.

Enter Mayukh Sen, a thorough and highly intelligent writer who transports you into Merle’s lift adeptly. Sen writes with conviction, backed by what is clearly such comprehensive research. What he accomplishes in his writing is transporting us back to a golden era of Hollywood, while also bringing the reader into Merle’s head and heart — at times I felt like Merle leapt off the page, as if telling me her own thoughts, joys, and insecurities in her own words.

Love, Queenie is stunning in its embrace of Merle’s complexities, both humanizing her and contextualizing her journey in the larger picture of what was happening across the world, from immigration policy to racism, as she struggled to find herself and make it in an unforgiving industry.

This book wowed me time and time again, and I now have immense respect for Merle as a woman and a performer, as well as Sen as a writer.
Pick up this book — you won’t regret it!

I would like to thank Net Galley and W.W. Norton and Company for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. I love movies, and books about movie stars, especially of the "Golden Era", so this was right up my alley. Merle Oberon was a noted film star, nominated for an Oscar in 1936, and cast as Cathy in Wuthering Heights in 1939. For her entire life, she kept her origins a secret, from her friends, her fans , even her husbands. The woman she believed to be her sister was actually her mother, and the woman who raised her was her grandmother. Merle Oberon was born Estelle Merle Thompson, and nicknamed Queenie. She was Anglo Asian. She was born in India, although for her life she claimed to have been born in Tasmania. In the 20's and 30's, Asians were not allowed to emigrate freely to the USA, and were not able to act as anything other than stereotypical Asian roles in films. By dint of hard work, her charm , beauty and a net work of lies, Merle Oberon overcame her birth to become a star. I have read some things about her , Micheal Korda's 2 books- Charmed lives, about his family( she was married to his uncle Alexander Korda) and Queenie, his fictionalized biography of her. This book is a fully engrossing telling of a most complex life. It is packed with details of the movie system, the star making machinery , if you will. along with capturing the inner layers of a conflicted woman. She was a study in contrasts- acting out her fantasies on the big screen, while hiding the truth of her life. I really enjoyed this book.

I have to say, I was very impressed with Mayukh Sen's autobiography of the actress Merle Oberon, who is now viewed as Hollywood's first South Asian star. Merle led a very complicated life, which included her passing as white despite the fact that she was actually South Asian and spent her early life living in India. I loved and truly enjoyed how Mayukh Sen weaved Merle's story together throughout the book, beginning at the place of her birth as well as documenting her last days, and the various relationships she formed throughout her life. Reading Merle's backstory about how she was raised and how hard she worked to make herself a film actress in Hollywood was so interesting to me, as well as inspirational, considering how many barriers Merle faced along the way. Prior to reading this autobiograpgy on Merle, I did not know much about her and had seen only a few of her films growing up. She always struck me as very beautiful as well as a great and talented actress. I appreciate the author for choosing to tell Merle's story in this book as it is one not often told. I can tell this book was well researched and I liked the way the author addressed important themes like race and gender in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed reading about Merle Oberon. I think it focuses heavily on her acting career and the details get dull at times. However, it was fascinating to learn that she-an Asian woman-participated in yellowface. Although, she didn't have power in those days to fight for her people and the way they were portrayed in American and British films. This is an intriguing story of an ambitious woman who had to be someone else to succeed.

Thank you to Net Galley and W. W. Norton & Company for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
This is a very informative biography of South Asian actress Merle Oberon. She seemed to have a hard life because she was a woman trying to make it in Hollywood. She had the added hardship of prejudice because she was South Asian in a time when white actresses were the ones getting the parts. She tried to hide her beginnings all of her life. She also fought against this prejudice all of her life. I had heard of Merle Oberon, but I did not know much about her. I learned a lot from reading this book. It is a very well researched biography that grabbed my attention right from the beginning. I also enjoyed the photographs at the beginning of each chapter. I recommend this book if you like to read about Old Hollywood.