GLITTER BABY

Author: Ellen Greene ISBN: 9780061438561 1/2009 MEMOIR Publisher: AVON

Welcome to the world of the Glitter Baby Fleur Savagar is the most beautiful woman in the world . . . to everyone but herself. With her oversized hands and paddle-boat feet, her streaky blond hair and funny green eyes, she lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born. That was when her bewitching mother left home to find James Dean and met Errol Flynn instead. Now Fleur has to grow up quickly, and life won't make that easy. Jake Koranda is both New York's most brilliant playwright and Hollywood's hottest actor. Difficult, talented, and tormented, he has no patience for international glamour girls, not even ones with beautiful bodies and smart-aleck mouths. But there's more to the Glitter Baby than shine, and Fleur's tougher than Jake expects. Even with the odds stacked against her, she's fiercely determined to discover the woman she's destined to be. An ugly duckling who can't believe she's turned into a swan . . . A tough-guy movie star with a haunted past . . . In a land of broken dreams, can two unlikely lovers trust their hearts?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Susan Elizabeth Phillips's revised GLITTER BABY shines! It is the story of families, perception and the journey each must make in an effort to find out just exactly who they are. It shows that even though someone might outwardly sparkle, beneath that glitzy exterior may lurk blemishes that it is a struggle to keep hidden.

Fleur has a huge legacy to live up to. Her mother has expectations for her that are unreasonably high, and she is forced to come face-to-face with her own wishes, dreams and, unfortunately, shortcomings. She spends her life trying to find herself, and to find a way to be true to what she wants rather than what those around her demand. Eventually Fleur does find her strength, and tells her mother Belinda that she, too, is stronger than she believes.

All in all, this is a story of a complex mother-daughter relationship that brings growth for both parties. Written with amazing clarity, and giving insight into the relationships that unite as well as those that pull people apart, GLITTER BABY is wonderfully entertaining!

Kay James