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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic novel!,
By "spopowycz" (Queensland, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Calais (Paperback)
Calais is my favourite all-time read!The story of Arlette Morgan and Anthony De Forest and the journey of their lives in a world of theatre and film. The quote on the back cover sums up what I percieved from this tale - "Apart they are superb, together they are sensational". I hope I got that the right way around from memory... I have read this book many times over the years and every time I read it I find something more that I either missed or hadn't interpreted the same way before. A book that allows a reader to believe in a world where emotions are allowed to be powerful and influence the lives of the characters in a way that is certainly not the norm in my life! The literary and theatrical references abound and are so well researched and details that if you have an interest in either, it can be indulged. I recommend "Calais" to anyone who likes a compelling read about people and the human psyche rather than a plot focussed on activities and environmental descriptives. In summary - a classic.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"She was playing the role she sometimes thought had always been her best: Arlette Morgan, star.",
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Calais (Paperback)
The story is centered around Lily Malone. Her parents die in an automobile accident and that loss drives her to a passion for the stage (not really sure why) - and that means being the center of it and not in a supporting role. Catching the eye (and bed) of one of the college professors she eventually strikes out for New York with a name change to Arlette Morgan. A few acting lessons, a few lucky breaks and then a role co-starring with Anthony De Forest and she's well on her way to super-stardom, but what about happiness?After this we're pretty much treated to Anthony and Arlette's stormy marriage (no spoilers, it's on the back jacket) which is oh-so-similar to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's (including playing Anthony and Cleopatra, although our pair didn't flop) and eventually Arlette finds her life at a crossroads. Will she risk her career (and those who depend on them) by separating the acting team of Morgan and De Forest, or should she give it all up for true love? Eh, by this time I was so tired of Arlette's revolving bedroom door along with her pretty dresses and furs and *acting* her own life I was pretty lost by this point and skimming a great deal. I felt the most interesting parts were the backstage details of how a play and/or movie are just pieces of the puzzle until the cast and the director can tie them together into one fluid piece. As much as I liked the backstage scenes, it began to wear thin after a while . Yes, I know Arlette got hurt but did she really need that many lovers to get even? That said, the ending certainly took me by surprise and if you must have a picture perfect HEA you do not want to enter here. If you're a fan of the stage and theatre this might interest you, but I'd recommend other readers give this a miss. 3/5 stars. I did have quite a senior moment in the prologue during Arlette's airplane flight and can't resist sharing. Raise your hand if you can remember these days, "The stewardess fixed two trays side by side, and so it seemed they were to be companions in taking airborne communion. She began to eat slowly, and he took a forkful of steak..." STEAK? Oh yes, and there were stewardesses instead of flight attendents as well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Glossy theatrical saga,
By Miss Moppet (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Calais (Paperback)
Calais is the story of actress Arlette Morgan's rise to fame and fortune from the 1940s to the 1960s. Arlette is orphaned at the age of five, and Winsor convincingly explores how early loss shapes her character and influences her life choices. Arlette believes that if it were not for her parents' death, she would not have decided to become an actress. While her sense of her own mortality pushes her towards early success, acting provides a way for her to live more than one life. Her succession of love affairs, which sometimes seem under-motivated, might also stem from this need to live as fully as possible.Winsor is especially adept at exploring female rivalry, and she has great fun with all the tropes that belong to this type of fiction: the college friends after the same part, the understudy waiting in the wings for the star to sprain her ankle, the showdown between the ambitious Eve Harrington-type ingenue and the understudy-turned-star. Her depiction of female friendship is less convincing. Arlette would seem a loner if it weren't for the revolving door ushering her men in and out. Arlette sleeps with her leading men, her directors and anyone else who catches her fancy, but rarely uses the relationship to her advantage, and in fact, has a lot to put up with from the men in her life - especially consort Anthony De Forest. The prologue, set in 1966, allows the reader a glimpse of Arlette and Anthony's glamorous married life, positioning them somewhere between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Yet I didn't care for Anthony much: he seemed arrogant, controlling and insecure all at the same time. As a depiction of the theatrical world Calais doesn't have the authentic ring of, for example, Noel Streatfeild's adult novels, and I found myself seriously doubting quite a few details, such as whether a horse would be able to gallop across the stage. Apart from any lack of realism (which I may be wrong about, as I've never worked in the theatre) Calais has the faults of Winsor's other books: after Anthony and Arlette marry the novel sags and begins to seem episodic. The last third is very overwritten, and the book doesn't so much end as simply come to a stop. However, it was worth reading as I found much of the novel the engrossing read it was meant to be - a book for women, about a woman who lives out her dreams.
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