Book Review: “The Girls in the Picture” by Melanie Benjamin
“The Girls in the Picture” by Melanie Benjamin (2018)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Length: 448 pages (hardcover edition)
Synopsis:
An intimate portrait of the close friendship and powerful creative partnership between two of Hollywood’s earliest female superstars: Frances Marion and Mary Pickford. An enchanting new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Aviator’s Wife.
Hollywood, 1914. Frances Marion, a young writer desperate for a break, meets “America’s Sweetheart,” Mary Pickford, already making a name for herself both on and off the screen with her golden curls and lively spirit. Together, these two women will take the movie business by storm.
Mary Pickford becomes known as the “Queen of the Movies”—the first actor to have her name on a movie marquee, and the first to become a truly international celebrity. Mary and her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, were America’s first Royal Couple, living in a home more famous that Buckingham Palace. Mary won the first Academy Award for Best Actress in a Talkie and was the first to put her hand and footprints in Grauman’s theater sidewalk. Her annual salary in 1919 was $625,000—at a time when women’s salaries peaked at $10 a week. Frances Marion is widely considered one of the most important female screenwriters of the 20th century, and was the first writer to win multiple Academy Awards. The close personal friendship between the two stars was closely linked to their professional collaboration and success.
This is a novel about power: the power of women during the exhilarating early years of Hollywood, and the power of forgiveness. It’s also about the imbalance of power, then and now, and the sacrifices and compromises women must make in order to succeed. And at its heart, it’s a novel about the power of female friendship. (description from Goodreads)
Review:
The Girls in The Picture focuses on the fictionalized friendship of Frances Marion and Mary Pickford, a famous screenwriter and actress in the silent film era. The novel starts of in the early 1900s, when Frances jets off to Hollywood after her second divorce seeking for something new. Fascinated by the entertainment and action that goes on behind the scenes of a movie set, she decides wants to be a part of it. After Frances meets Mary, an established actress, the two immediately develop a close friendship and set off on a journey to shake things up in Hollywood.
Though both women are very different personality wise, they both show a fierce drive to get what they want in their career and prove the naysayers wrong. Their visions of movies take a lot of work to be produced as the book highlights the discrimination of women in the field. Mary and Frances make many sacrifices in order to get their film shown to audiences.
As for the writing, the book is pretty slow-moving in its progression and the plot has a tendency to be action-packed in one moment and drags the next. But while the first half of the book is slow, the second half is much smoother and the narrative starts to pick up. I felt that overall the book had some pacing issues, which is my only complaint about this book.
I learned a lot about old Hollywood, and even though this book doesn’t cover all of the aspects of Frances’ and Mary’s life, I learned a lot about them as I was unfamiliar with their careers prior to reading the book. It was interesting to see how changes in the industry films (ex. transition from silent to “talkie” films) impacted their careers and those around them. It was also interesting to see their friendship dynamics change from their start to their established career. They become more distant, work is more demanding, and they settle into their own lives. I felt they became to resent each other even though they were so close.
If you enjoy reading historical fiction about old Hollywood I recommend it! Also I want to read more books about old Hollywood, so if you have recommendations please send them my way!
Final Verdict:
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Ooooo I just received this book for review. I’m sad to hear that it has some pacing issues… hopefully it won’t be as slow as a read for me.
I’m sure you’ve probably read it, but if you want an Old Hollywood book, pick up The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!
It’s just the beginning that was a little slow moving for me, but other than that it’s a good read. I keep hearing about The Seven Husbands book, and it sounds like something I would like to read.