Actress

A Novel

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 03 Mar 2020 | Archive Date 29 Feb 2020

Talking about this book? Use #Actress #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

From the Man Booker Prize–winner, a brilliant and moving novel about celebrity, sexual power, and a daughter’s search to understand her mother’s hidden truths.

Katherine O’Dell is an Irish theater legend. As her daughter Norah retraces her mother’s celebrated career and bohemian life, she delves into long-kept secrets, both her mother’s and her own. Katherine began her career on Ireland’s bus-and-truck circuit before making it to London’s West End, Broadway, and finally Hollywood. Every moment of her life is a star turn, with young Norah standing in the wings. But the mother-daughter romance cannot survive Katherine’s past or the world’s damage.

With age, alcohol, and dimming stardom, her grip on reality grows fitful and, fueled by a proud and long-simmering rage, she commits a bizarre crime. Her mother’s protector, Norah understands the destructive love that binds an actress to her audience, but also the strength that an actress takes from her art.

Once the victim of a haunting crime herself, Norah eventually becomes a writer, wife, and mother, finding her way to her own hard-won joy. Actress is finally a book about the freedom we find in our work and in the love we make and keep.

About the Author: Anne Enright was born in Dublin, where she now lives and works. She has published three volumes of stories, one book of nonfiction, and five novels. In 2015, she was named the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction. Her novel The Gathering won the Man Booker Prize, and The Forgotten Waltz won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

From the Man Booker Prize–winner, a brilliant and moving novel about celebrity, sexual power, and a daughter’s search to understand her mother’s hidden truths.

Katherine O’Dell is an Irish theater...


A Note From the Publisher

LibraryReads votes due by 2/1.

LibraryReads votes due by 2/1.


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781324005629
PRICE $26.95 (USD)
PAGES 272

Available on NetGalley

Send to Kindle (EPUB)

Average rating from 24 members


Featured Reviews

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

A lyrically-crafted story, flows more like an old Celtic legend than a novel, about a fascinating woman. The trope of the taciturn child writing about her horrible celebrity mother has well been worn, but this book feels fresh, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Makes me want to go back and read her earlier bucks

Was this review helpful?

I’ve been reading entirely too much genre fiction and not even the best of it, so a palate cleanser was due and nothing does the trick quite like a work of proper literature. It may sound pretentious, but you know when you’re in a presence of literary greatness, you just do. You don’t even have to love the plot, you can still appreciate the sheer beauty of language. Somehow I’ve never read the author, though she is quite well known and even an Booker recognized. Well, Actress was a terrific introduction to Enright. The elegance of narrative alone, the seamless integration of language and emotions, the gorgeous vividness of the scenery. And for all that, still an enjoyable coherent plot (something Man Booker winner don’t always feature oddly enough) about a daughter’s quest to know and understand her mother, a once upon a famous and then quietly faded star, not just an actress, but someone with a genuine star quality, fleeting and ethereal as that might be. Katherine O’Dell, an Irish legend, a star of theatre and cinema, someone whose career peaked across the ocean, but never sustained, all to end with a scandal and a relatively early death. A woman, a mother, a thespian…so well known and yet so unknowable to the person closest to her, her only daughter. Someone left behind to reconcile the public and private figure her mother was or even to puzzle out who her father might have been. This is very much the daughter’s journey, but it is the mother’s story. If you know enough about the bygone era of actors and actresses (which is to say when such gender based definitions were even utilized, not to mention valid and crucial sociologically) Katherine’s story is a pretty typical one. The studios used their stars, squeezing them for every drop of beauty and talent, and threw them away when they aged out or became less in any way. Stars peaked, burned brightly and fizzled out. You know the trajectory, but it’s still a compelling thing to behold. The characters and scenarios have a certain familiarity, they are of a type, fictional or real…and what is even the line between the two when it comes to showbusiness. And yet, you can’t help but be drawn into the story, owning in no small way to Enright’s lovely writing. It’s almost hypnotic in a way, it’s so immersive and it reads so quickly. I did it in two sittings out of necessity, but it might have been easily done in one. And I did enjoy the plot, being a huge cinema fan, but the real star of this book about a star is certainly Enright’s talent as a writer, wordcraft and storyteller. Very enjoyable read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Was this review helpful?

A narrative of general fiction that presumptively focuses on the complex aspects between mother and daughter but is told through an intriguing and imaginative plot line. Anne Enright lets her literary competence shine through with the eloquence of her writing. The story is astute, descriptive, and downright alluring. 5 stars


Thank you to #NetGalley and @W.W.Norton for granting my "wish". #Actress was read and reviewed voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Tarrah Marie (@wayward_readers)

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley and W.W. Norton and Company for the eARC.
Norah is recalling her mother Katherine O'Dell's legendary stage and film career and what it was like to grow up with her. It's a beautiful book; sad, poignant and ultimately uplifting to me. Her mother was a star loved by many in Ireland and as far as Hollywood, mesmerizing as both an actress as well as a singer. Norah felt much loved by her mum, and was a quiet spectator of her stage performances as well as the many parties taking place in their home.
When Katherine descends into madness and eventually a harrowing death and the care Norah takes of her brought tears to my eyes. The descriptions of life in 1970's and '80's Dublin, full of writers, directors and artists, was an eye opener. The painful direction Catherine's life took because of her art, the getting older as an actress and the way it sucked the life out of her life made me glad I never had the urge to take to the stage!
A very stark and insightful look into the 'glamorous ' life of the arts and the way it affects the protagonists and the people in their orbit. Fascinating, lyrical and definitely recommended, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Was this review helpful?

ACTRESS is a beautiful stream of conscience, a love letter to mothers and daughters and husbands. Written from the point of view of the daughter of a very famous Irish actress (think Elizabeth Taylor-esque), the writing is the star of this book. It is lyrical and heartfelt, and will sweep you up in it.

Katherine O’Dell lives a large life - it’s a bit stereotypically actress, but so dictates the title of this book. She is an amazing character, and I also really liked her daughter Norah, our narrator. She is coming to terms with her mother’s legacy, her secrets, and her mental illness. It almost feels more like a biography at some points, so don’t expect a large plot, but when Norah’s story comes through is when the novel truly sings. A solid 4 stars, and a beautiful piece of literature.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: