Review by Booklist Review
Debut novelist D'Addario effectively illustrates the idiom, "it's lonely at the top," with this look at six actresses angling for best actress nominations. Approaching 70, lauded dramatic actress Adria has to first muscle her younger costar out of the way to get submitted for the top category. Her lifelong competitor, Jenny, is aspiring to finally best Adria for a turn as opera singer Maria Callas. Younger hopefuls Bitty and Contessa are struggling with the pressure of competing for both the award and their handsome costar, Josh. British television star Davina is anticipating a nomination that will put her on the map in the U.S., while recently widowed Eleanor wants a nod to put her back in the spotlight after a long absence from the screen. D'Addario opts for introspection over salacious antics, and while some readers might wish there was more actual interaction between these six fiery competitors, this is a sharp-eyed examination of the toll pursuing a career in the arts can take, even and especially when one is at the top of her game.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Variety chief correspondent D'Addario debuts with an uninspired tale of five women campaigning to win best actress at the Academy Awards. The field is led by Adria Benedict, the grand dame of American cinema, who's anxious to protect that status. Challengers include Bitty Harbor, a secret alcoholic who's hot for her "Alpha-Hunk" costar in a film about Lady Bird and Lyndon Johnson; Contessa Lyle, a Black former child star desperate to be taken seriously in her role as Laura in The Glass Menagerie; Davina Schwartz, an acclaimed London stage performer and star of a feminist take on Titus Andronicus, who feels like a fish out of water in Hollywood; and Jenny Van Meer, who has spent her career in Adria's shadow and hopes to come into her own with a Maria Callas biopic. In the run-up to the big night, these five stars cross paths on the awards circuit and are forced to deal with one another's secrets, insecurities, and jealousies. Unfortunately, the characters mostly feel two-dimensional, and the story is curiously devoid of drama. D'Addario channels the noise of Tinseltown, but not the glitter. Agent: Jessica Spitz, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Feb.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Five Hollywood actresses wriggle under the microscope of an awards season. This debut novel from longtimeVariety correspondent D'Addario opens with the reading of the Best Actress nominees during an awards show, rewinds to take each leading lady through the months of machinations and publicity leading up to that night, then circles back to a weirdly anticlimactic conclusion. To the author's credit, by then we can pretty easily keep the characters and their movies straight, possibly even better than in real life. Adria Benedict is the queen, already a three-time winner, something like Meryl Streep--though one hopes Meryl is more likable and less rigidly focused on her grand career. Her longtime rival, at least according to the media, is Jenny Van Meer, whose parallel career has gone conspicuously unawarded. Three younger actresses--a child star (comes with a momager), a smart British lesbian, and a beautiful drunk--complete the roster, and we keep track of a few also-rans, too, including a Black woman blocked by industry racism. There are photo shoots, magazine interviews, spin classes, meet-and-greets, and a lesser awards show, and all of it seems credible enough, if oddly unexciting, with each set-up for fireworks fizzling, sometimes offstage. Where are the scandals? The wardrobe failures? The paparazzi drama? D'Addario's objective seems to be to convince us that snakes in a barrel are people too, and perhaps that's not really the most fun that could have been had with these well-developed characters and premises. Some of the highlights of the book are the faux online columns and magazine articles slipped in along the way--perfectly snarky in their send-up of celebrity journalism. Elsewhere, earnestness prevails. Apparently, it's lonely at the top. Long on authenticity and sympathetic portrayals, a little short on pizzazz. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
