Divine Sarah: A Novel [Hardcover]

Adam Braver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 29, 2004

In Divine Sarah, Adam Braver, whose previous novel was described as "richly imagined" by the Washington Post, renders a portrait of the great actress Sarah Bernhardt in the twilight of her career as she explores her relationship to art and asks herself, "When does art become the artist?"

Sarah was truly the first international star, and she caused a sensation wherever she went. Set during the course of one week in 1906 California, the novel opens with controversy. Facing protests from the League of Decency, she is forced to move her latest production from Los Angeles to the new development of Venice Beach. And though this is only the most recent skirmish she has faced in her tumultuous sixty-one years of life, Sarah is exhausted and beginning to lose the will to fight.

Plagued by maladies of the flesh and the spirit, she begins to search her soul, revealing the truths of her life, including the self-doubt and insecurity hidden beneath an extravagant and confrontational lifestyle. Yet Sarah is not alone in her battle. Vince Baker, an ambitious newspaper reporter, faces his own demons as he tries to uncover the truth about the great actress.

With a fierce imagination, lyrical delicacy, and a uniquely passionate vision, Adam Braver not only gives us an unforgettable Sarah Bernhardt, he probes the depths of artistry and what happens when it begins to do battle with itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Loosely based on real circumstance," Braver's poignant and inventive second novel (after Mr. Lincoln's Wars) follows a week in the life of internationally renowned stage actress Sarah Bernhardt. As the story opens, she is 61 and on what should be a glorious Farewell Tour of America, but her career is losing steam. There's word that her California stage performances have suddenly been relocated to Venice from Los Angeles, and to make matters worse, a conservative religious group has boycotted Bernhardt, dubbing her show "immoral and unfit for performing downtown." Never one to succumb to pressure, and always primed for scandal, the resilient Bernhardt goes fishing. Before a ravenous audience of 50 reporters, she catches a sea bass, cuts it open with her hotel key and mashes her face into the bloody viscera—all "with a tragicomic smile." Bernhardt's antics are closely monitored by publicity guru Abbot Kinney and loving gay manager Max "Molly" Klein, who keeps her focused, protected and working harder than ever. Bernhardt's sudden mood swings are imagined with sympathetic verve and a light comical touch, but nothing rivals her cocaine-inspired Hamlet recitation to an enraptured Thomas Edison. As the novel closes, Bernhardt is still playing Marguerite Gautier in La Dame aux Camélias, rapturously enjoying multiple curtain calls with a prosthetic leg at 76. Braver has produced a gracefully inspired story about the unavoidable effects of age on fame.
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From Booklist

She may have been the Divine Sarah to the rest of the world, but Sarah Bernhardt's world was anything but divine. Her legendary fame came at a price to her privacy, principles, and passions. Embroiled in a controversy perpetrated by the League of Decency, Bernhardt's American tour was banned in Los Angeles and relegated to the less prestigious venue of Venice Beach. Vince Baker, a crusty newspaper reporter, is assigned to cover the story, a task he finds incompatible with his journalistic ethics. Just as Bernhardt assuages her demons with opium, Baker hits the bars. Bored and tired of playing to audiences who don't appreciate them, both are ready to end their careers. Such parallels between two professionals who are considered, and who consider themselves, to be at the top of their craft reveal Braver's skill in bringing his characters to life. Lush and lyrical, Braver's prose often shocks with its abrupt cruelty, yet through subtle nuances and provocative details he evokes the ethereal last days of America's innocence. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (June 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060544074
• ISBN-13: 978-0060544072
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,323,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Adam Braver is the author of five novels (MR. LINCOLN'S WARS, DIVINE SARAH, CROWS OVER THE WHEATFIELD, NOVEMBER 22, 1963, and the upcoming MISFIT). His books have been selected for the Barnes and Noble Discover New Writers program, Borders' Original Voices series, the IndieNext list, and twice for the Book Sense list, as well as having been translated into Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and French. Braver's fiction and essays have appeared in journals such as Daedalus, Ontario Review, Cimarron Review, Water-Stone Review, Harvard Review, Tin House, The Normal School, West Branch, The Pinch, and Post Road. He is on faculty and writer-in-residence at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. In addition to having taught for the University of New Orleans' Low Residency MFA program, he's also been a regular writer-in-residence at the New York State Summer Writers Institute.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Divine Read, October 13, 2004

By 

A Reader (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Divine Sarah: A Novel (Hardcover)

I found this book to be inspiring and interesting. I was struck by how contemporary many of the themes were: the boycotts against Bernhardt, the aging celebrity, etc. It all felt very fresh, as though it were speaking of today's times. I confess that I don't know that much about Sarah Bernhardt, but I beleive that the book is intended to be about more than her life and pridicaments. It seems to me that this beautifully written book is about the moments when people confront the images that they have of themselves, all in an effort to make sense of where they have been and where they are going.

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting book, April 26, 2008

By 

Nancy J. Kato (LA, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Divine Sarah: A Novel (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I loved the historical novel Adam Braver wrote about Lincoln. I am sticking with this book but it is a slower read for me.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been so much better, July 3, 2004

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Divine Sarah: A Novel (Hardcover)

DIVINE SARAH by Adam Braver

I'm going to start out by saying I was disappointed with this book. I had expected DIVINE SARAH by Adam Braver to be more than what it turned out to be - a novel that didn't even come close to what the blurb on the back said it would be. Although it was interesting to read about this legendary actress, Sarah Bernhardt, and it was even more interesting to have her in the setting of early 1900's Los Angeles, the book read as if it were slightly disjointed, as if the parts that were to come together never did.

The story takes place in a week's span of time, in Southern California 1906. While Sarah Bernhardt battles her demons and wishes she were retired, news reporter Vince Baker is upset about the quality of news writing and what he is expected to put out. Then we have Abbott Kinney, a successful land developer who became the founder of the city of Venice, California, who is a strong character in this book, and actually helps make the book worth reading.

But over all, the book fails to be what it should have been - it should have been a story about two people who are soul-searching, trying to figure out what their futures hold for them. I believe this was Adam Braver's vision for this novel, but it is not what I got from reading it.

He created characters that did not quite ring true on paper, and their stories should have been written so that they actually had a connection to each other, but I didn't see the connection. He might as well have been writing separate stories. I also found the character of Vince Baker weak and one-dimensional. Regarding Sarah's character, from reading this book, it did not come across to me that Sarah was French; the author did not attempt to replicate speech patterns that would have made me think she was not from this country. On the other hand, I did enjoy the character of Max Klein, her gay manager and confidante. I think Braver did a good job creating this relationship between Klein and Bernhardt, and it was probably the most enjoyable aspect of the book.

I'm not giving this book a 5 star recommendation, but giving it only 3 stars, because I don't think everyone who reads this book will have the same reaction I did. There are a lot of redeeming qualities to DIVINE SARAH, one of which was the introduction to this legendary actress of the late 1800's and early 1900's. I am not sorry I read this book, but I am rather hesitant in reading another one by Adam Braver. He may not be my cup of tea.