A novel tracing the complicated relationship between a larger-than-life actress who refuses to abandon her career for motherhood, and the daughter she chooses to abandon instead, as they confront one another once and for all.
The novel’s structure, fittingly, is portioned out in six acts like a play, alternating between both women’s perspectives over several decades. That approach can be a bit jarring at first, galloping through time and shifting perspectives in every chapter. But its complexity sneaked up on me, as the portraits of these two women start to deepen and ramify ... Reimer writes well about the inherent resentment between mothers and daughters, which is only heightened when one of those people is making money off content inspired by the other.
It's an enthralling and believable story. Unfortunately, author Heidi Reimer relies too much on stereotypes and ciphers, in a novel that demands strong, original, full-fledged characters ... Reimer, a writing coach and essayist, does an excellent job of interweaving the nonlinear timelines and alternating narrators. There are also fascinating insights into the art of acting.
