This book is ideal for those who love 'Old Hollywood' and all of the secret, more human aspects of celebrity life especially in the days prior to social media and even interviews in Lifestyle Magazines.

I finished this book a while ago but seem to still remember the important pieces.

It felt like a good beach read. The book was set from the 1940s-1950s it was focused on the censorship of movies which was led by the Catholic church.

It was slow-paced. The story was told in dual timelines. One when MC was around age 18 and one around age 27.

I did enjoy the view of old Hollywood. I felt this book was an overall average read. Not a must-read but an easy story to follow.

Thank you, NetGalley for the privilege of an ARC for a fair and honest review.

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

Did not have time to read this book - still on my TBR. Thank you for the opportunity and my apologies for not getting to it.

The Hollywood Daughter is a highly entertaining tale about Hollywood in the 1940’s and 1950’s. This would be a wonderful beach read. Happy Reading!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. Thank you, NetGalley.

This was not one of my favorite books. Yet I couldn't stop reading it. First of all the writing was well done. Second and more personal, I remember my dad pointing to Ingrid Bergman on the TV and telling me that she was his very favorite actress. I had to agree with him that she was beautiful and I loved how she spoke. I don't know what the show was. Nor do I remember what she said or wore that impressed me.

I think I may be part of the target audience, Baby Boomer. I may be around the same age as the main character, Jessica Malloy, well, a little younger. I wasn't born until, what chapter three or four? And I am a Southern California girl so the location references were personal for me.

And I remember an aunt talking to my mother and I like a Dutch uncle about communism. Mom didn't say much. She usually had plenty to say, so I think this long lecture caught her off-guard.

So it was these personal notes that pulled me in and kept me reading. That and I wrote a teen-meeting-idol book in the sixties about meeting casually the Beatles. So I want to see how it happens to others who have idols in the entertainment industry.

More than that, it was fun watching Jessica grow into a young woman and ridding herself of the demons of growing up.

For me, though, this growing up angst is tiring. Who wants to go back and relive their teens? At least this girl wasn't gaga about this guy and that. It was more about her family and her self -discovery.

I may have to find an Ingrid Bergman movie or two to complete my experience. Others may love this book. But I stick with my three stars as it is better than some but not as good as others. I may actually forget it soon which is what brings it to a four or five-star rating. Try it. Let me know how you feel about it. Maybe I missed something? I do read using text-to-speech.

"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker and A Touch of Stardust, comes a Hollywood coming-of-age novel, in which Ingrid Bergman's affair with Roberto Rossellini forces her biggest fan to reconsider everything she was raised to believe.

In 1950, Ingrid Bergman—already a major star after movies like Casablanca and Joan of Arc—has a baby out of wedlock with her Italian lover, film director Roberto Rossellini. Previously held up as an icon of purity, Bergman's fall shocked her legions of American fans.

Growing up in Hollywood, Jessica Malloy watches as her PR executive father helps make Ingrid a star at Selznick Studio. Over years of fleeting interactions with the actress, Jesse comes to idolize Ingrid, who she considered not only the epitome of elegance and integrity, but also the picture-perfect mother, an area where her own difficult mom falls short.

In a heated era of McCarthyism and extreme censorship, Ingrid's affair sets off an international scandal that robs seventeen-year-old Jesse of her childhood hero. When the stress placed on Jesse's father begins to reveal hidden truths about the Malloy family, Jesse's eyes are opened to the complex realities of life—and love.

Beautifully written and deeply moving, The Hollywood Daughter is an intimate novel of self-discovery that evokes a Hollywood sparkling with glamour and vivid drama."

I'm a sucker for stories about old Hollywood, especially if they have a scandal!

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

I enjoyed this book. It took me a little while to get into it however once I did I was immediately was engrossed in the story. I love anything about old Hollywood so this was right up my street. I thought that the descriptions of the time and the surroundings were perfect and transported me to a time of days gone by. After I finished this I went out and bought a copy to keep on my shelf to re-read.

I thought that I would like this book but I wasn't able to get into this book at this time. Sadly this book did not finish the book.

The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott was a nice easy summer read for me. The book opens in New York in 1959 with Jessica Malloyy getting her mail. In the letters that have arrived is a fancy looking invitation. It is to the 1959 Academy Awards! She begins thinking back to the Academy Awards that she attended in 1946. With that reminiscing, comes the memories of Ingrid Bergman. The next chapter takes us back to Los Angeles, 1942.

Jessica’s dad works as a publicist for a movie studio. One of his clients that he helps promote is Ingrid Bergman. Ingrid’s daughter attends the same day school as Jessica and Jessica is transfixed by her.

The novel is a coming of age story set in Hollywood in the 1940’s and 50’s. The scare of communism pervades everything. The scandal of Ingrid Bergman running off to Italy to be with her lover. I couldn’t help thinking how Ingrid’s behavior would be treated today, so much different than back then.

This was a nice spin on a classic story. The setting of Hollywood and during that particular era added it’s own character. The novel covers everything from morality in the movies, communism, feminism and even Catholicism.

A light, but still meaningful read.

I received an ARC copy of the book.

Loved The Hollywood Daughter! Beautiful writing! I read this in one sitting!

Jessie Malloy is on the edge of the Hollywood scene. Her father is a publicist, and she comes in contact with the glamorous world of movie stars. Though I liked Jessie as a character (and her POV as a young girl growing up in Beverly Hills) a lot of the time it felt like she was watching it from afar. Even the scenes with her parents gave the impression she was distant from them. Seeing how her parents did hide a lot of things from her, that's probably to be expected. For them, their public image was more important, and they wanted to protect her from the harsher realities.

I'm a fan of old Hollywood movies, so I was looking forward to "The Hollywood Daughter." I've read accounts of how actors were treated when they rejected their carefully created images, so I wasn't a stranger to Ingrid Bergman's story. She (and Elizabeth Taylor after her) were both denounced for their behavior and could've had their careers ruined by scandal.

But even though I could see the parallels between the choices Ingrid Bergman made, and what Jessie discovers about her own life and family, there was still a feeling of detachment. Finally at the end, when Jessie has a real conversation with her idol, I felt the connection between them.

Jessie gets the chance to look back and grow from what she's learned. Actually I would've loved to have read more about her life at that point, seeing how she was able to tie it all together and make a choice for her happiness. There were points where the story dragged a bit, but overall I enjoyed it. Jessie is a likable heroine, and it was entertaining to see the golden age of Hollywood through her eyes.

This book isn't bad, but it's not really my style, and I can't see people purchasing this in print- it's more of a Kindle Unlimited book.

I really enjoy reading books about 'Old Hollywood' and the author did a fantastic job using detail to bring us back to that time frame. The book acknowledged the social expectations of someone in the public eye and how the stress of such a documented life can shape an individual. Alcott nailed the glamour and glitz of the time period and created some wonderfully unique characters.

I really struggled to get into this book. It just wasn't my style, even though I hoped I'd love it.

The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott is a 2017 Doubleday publication.

Alcott captures the glamour and awe of Hollywood amid the tensions and fears of McCarthyism and the scandal that sent shockwaves throughout the industry, but is also an intimate look at family, the cracks in the veneer, the loyalty, the secrets, and the importance of learning priorities, relinquishing false illusions, and learning to forgive, not only others, but yourself.

This story may have gotten off to a slow start, but by the half way mark, I was completely immersed in the drama surrounding the paranoia of McCarthyism and Ingrid Bergman’s shocking affair that made her a cast out for nine long years, but equally compelled by Jessica’s family dynamic and personal experiences at her Catholic school, and her relationship with her parents, especially with her mother.

Jessica’s father is Ingrid’s publicist, and Jessica is absolutely devoted to Ingrid. Her reverence for Ingrid is so deeply rooted she remains devoutly loyal to her through the scandal and her exile, which came at a very high personal cost to Jessica and her family.

The author did an incredible job of bringing Ingrid Bergman to life, of creating the anxiety and toll the Hollywood witch hunt took on the industry, how it hurt people, and the fall out of Bergman’s
adulterous affair, as seen through the eyes of young Jessica during her teenage years.

The story delves into Jessica’s personal life, as she struggles through the angst of growing up, dealing with her mother’s periods of depression and her parent’s marital woes. Her personal journey is tied in with Bergman’s life in so many ways, as it is with her father’s career, which causes her to make, then regret, personal and very controversial decisions, that will follow her into adulthood, haunting her to the point where she finally reaches an emotional precipice of adulthood.

I have always loved novels centered around the ‘golden age’ of Hollywood, because let’s be honest, that level of glamour, writing, and acting has never quite reached that pinnacle in any era since then. I was not familiar with the big Bergman scandal until, while watching ‘Casablanca’ with my parents, they related the story of how she became a pariah in the United States, with her scandalous affair, reaching all the way to the Senate floor, where she was lambasted as ‘powerful influence of evil’.

But, the story is much more than a coming of age tale, and touches on more than a young girl’s fantasy surrounding her favorite actress. It was also about judgmental hypocrisy, the drive to censor the arts, the conflicts Jessica faces about her church and religion, especially after the harsh and swift retribution passed in Hollywood, on Bergman, and her own family.

But, I think it also speaks to the incredible and unrealistic pressure we place on celebrities, by placing them on a pedestal to be worshiped, insisting they live up to our idealized image of them, when the truth is, they are people, just like you and me. When they fall, make a blunder, like an ill -advised tweet, for example, we will crucify them today, just as Bergman was judged and shamed back in 1949/50.

But, in the end, Jessica's struggle to understand her mother, fighting her own personal inability to forgive herself,unable to move forward without relinquishing her idealist hero worship of Ingrid Bergman, is at the heart of the story.

In the end, Jessica will mature enough to see which relationships are the most important, will find understanding, and move on into adulthood, stronger and more at ease with herself.

I enjoyed Jessica’s journey, her voice was real, honest, and heartfelt, and realistic and really struck a chord with me.

I would like to say we’ve moved forward, upwards and onwards from those days, but we still fall into those same traps, and are ever in danger of seeing history repeat itself, but one thing we will probably never experience again in the same way, is the Golden Years of Hollywood.

esse Malloy's father was a public relations executive and nearly instrumental in helping to build Ingrid Bergman's popularity in the 1940's. It's a time of Hollywood glamour and glitz, and she has a stellar reputation. Ingrid is Jesse's favorite actress, and she looked up to Ingrid like a hero before she had a baby out of wedlock in 1950. In addition, the Catholic Church and McCarthyism in the period increased the tensions at home, making Jesse more aware of her parents as people, as well as their failings. Though she fled Hollywood for New York to attend college and then work for Newsweek, an anonymous invitation to attend the Academy Awards brings her back to examine her past.

I sympathized with Jesse and felt as though I went down memory lane with her. Her ideals were shattered as she grew up, and everything seemed to hinge on the scandal created by Ingrid's decision to be a person first and starlet last. The idealism didn't fade, necessarily, but it tarnished some of her memories. The book clearly describes New York of the 50's, and what Old Hollywood would have been like. It's such an interesting time to go through when ordinary people were persecuted and the paranoia was everywhere. I was glad that Jesse got a chance to revisit her old friends and school, and face all the memories she had been running from. There's no clear resolution at the end, but a sense of hopefulness is there. Now she knows what shaped her, and she's ready to move into the future. She's even ready to rebuild relationships that she thought she had lost when she left Hollywood for college and is confident that it can be done. That's the best possible result from a trip down memory lane.

I love books by Kate Alcott, so I was thrilled to see that she wrote one about the heyday of Hollywood. The Hollywood Daughter is told from the point of view of the daughter of a publicist who represents, among others, Ingrid Bergman. Jesse idolizes Ingrid Bergman and when Bergman comes to her school to film The Bells of St. Mary, Jesse’s strict Catholic upbringing and her Hollywood family life collide.

Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker and A Touch of Stardust, comes a Hollywood coming-of-age novel, in which Ingrid Bergman’s affair with Roberto Rossellini forces her biggest fan to reconsider everything she was raised to believe
In 1950, Ingrid Bergman—already a major star after movies like Casablanca and Joan of Arc—has a baby out of wedlock with her Italian lover, film director Roberto Rossellini. Previously held up as an icon of purity, Bergman’s fall shocked her legions of American fans.
Growing up in Hollywood, Jessica Malloy watches as her PR executive father helps make Ingrid a star at Selznick Studio. Over years of fleeting interactions with the actress, Jesse comes to idolize Ingrid, who she considered not only the epitome of elegance and integrity, but also the picture-perfect mother, an area where her own difficult mom falls short.
In a heated era of McCarthyism and extreme censorship, Ingrid’s affair sets off an international scandal that robs seventeen-year-old Jesse of her childhood hero. When the stress placed on Jesse’s father begins to reveal hidden truths about the Malloy family, Jesse’s eyes are opened to the complex realities of life—and love.
Beautifully written and deeply moving, The Hollywood Daughter is an intimate novel of self-discovery that evokes a Hollywood sparkling with glamour and vivid drama.

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There are lots of themes in this book, and they are all wrapped up in the era of Hollywood and the events of the 1940’s and 50’s. I love love love reading about Hollywood, and this was a fun read in this respect. However, there is a whole lot more to this book, and some of it is symbolized in Jesse’s relationship and reliance on her Catholic faith. Her Catholicism plays a pivotal role in the novel and at first I wondered why. It comes to represent (or at least I feel it does!) her relationship with her parents. When she was young, she accepted everything they told her unquestioningly and she had a blind faith in her own father, as she did in her church. Disappointments prevailed and by adulthood Jesse finds herself isolated both from her mother and from the church. It was an interesting parallel.
Highly recommended if you enjoy books of this time period as I do!
Thank you for my review e-copy, received via Net Galley!

This was a fun, interesting read. I have always loved the glamour of Hollywood, especially old Hollywood, so this satisfied that interest perfectly. I was worried it would be one of those books full of all the sordid details of the lives of Hollywood's elite, since that is something does interest a lot of people, but it was not. This book follows the life of a young girl growing up with a Hollywood publicist father and a staunch Catholic mother. It was interesting to see the two halves of her life affecting each other as she grows up: her love for Hollywood makes her question the strictness of her Catholic beliefs, and her loyalty to her religion makes her question her idol Ingrid Bergman as she is caught in a personal scandal that begins to affect her career. I didn't always agree with or like the decisions of the main character, but this is her story and her life, so it wouldn't necessarily pan out the way I would have chosen had it been me.

Considering some of the topics that are addressed and the setting of the majority of the story, this book was remarkably clean, which I also really appreciated. I remember two or three instances of strong language, but other than that there really wasn't much in the way of bad language, and there wasn't any scandalous sexual content either (other than references to affairs and such, but no gory details).

Although I typically like stories of old Hollywood I just didn't get into this story. It was just too predictable and didn't really have the "juice" like I expected because of the title. I was expecting more of a soap opera type story and didn't feel the characters really lived up to it