They seem to be critical and judgmental of one another. She and the men of her life quarrel, make up, quarrel, make up and quarrel again, then make up - this forms a good a part (seemingly) of the book's nearly 500 pages. She has many affairs, none that last, finds the promo tours and trappings of selling her book a drag and has, well, more affairs. With the coming of Pearl Harbor, her husband goes to war and she lives a very different existence on the civilian front when fame and success comes to her. Or does she?īrought up in modest beginnings in California and married to an average but nice guy, she has a desire to achieve more in life and be as different to her mother as she could possibly be. With the coming of Pearl Harbor, her husband goes to war and she lives a very different existence on the civilian front when fame an Moderately entertaining tale of a young lady in wartime America, who writes a big bestseller and enjoys the fame and success that is the result of her book's popularity. Or does she? Brought up in modest beginnings in California and married to an average but nice guy, she has a desire to achieve more in life and be as different to her mother as she could possibly be. Moderately entertaining tale of a young lady in wartime America, who writes a big bestseller and enjoys the fame and success that is the result of her book's popularity. Because of this, and because the writing was uneven and begged for better editing, I gave it 3 stars instead of 4. After 450 pages of this repeating pattern, the denouement brought no resolution and was ultimately unsatisfying. Her back and forth pattern of selfishness and self-doubt leaves her miserable and unhappy in the midst of her incredible success. But her brief insights never led to constructive change. What kept the story interesting was her ability to become self-aware and recognize her destructive behavior. Because of Shireen’s preoccupation with herself, she can only maintain relationships for as long as they support her needs. Her back and forth pattern of selfishness an This was a fascinating character study of an extremely narcissistic woman forging an independent life for herself (sans husband away at war) during the early 1940’s. This was a fascinating character study of an extremely narcissistic woman forging an independent life for herself (sans husband away at war) during the early 1940’s. I high recommend if you liked Forever Amber! She did clearly say that this book was by no means an autobiography, but you can definitely find parts of her in here. So much of experiences and feelings she had gone through with reaching her own fame. Especially in this novel, I felt as if she had put some much of herself in it. She takes such an honest approach when she writes. All the 'star money' she had couldn't make her happy, only she could and she couldn't figure out how. She just struggled with find fulfilling things in her life.
She couldn't come to terms with that, and ended up sabotaging her life and thus love. She made numerous mistakes, but who can't relate to that? She came to a level in her life when she had everything she could possibly want, but somehow that wasn't enough. I don't think that Shirleen was by any means a very lovable character. Yet on so many levels, I could relate to those characteristics, and thus Winsor herself. The main character Shirleen is selfish, foolish, and scared. She made numerous mistakes, but who can't relate to that? She came to a level in her life when she had everything she could possibly want, but somehow So after reading Forever Amber, I was lucky enough to find this book at my local Goodwill for a quarter.
So after reading Forever Amber, I was lucky enough to find this book at my local Goodwill for a quarter.