Fleur De Leigh's Life of Crime: A Novel [Paperback]

Diane Leslie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2000

Tucked away in her parents' lavish Beverly Hills mansion, young Fleur de Leigh has all the benefits of a privileged and glamorous upbringing. Or so she is frequently told. Fleur's mother, a flamboyant, ambitious B-movie actress and eponymous star of The Charmian Leigh Radio Mystery Half-Hour, and her aloof father, currently reduced to producing the TV game show Sink or Get Rich, casually entrust their daughter's welfare to a procession of nannies, cooks, and character actors. Surrounded by falsies, false eyelashes, and lust for fame, Fleur seeks to learn from her eccentric caretakers the difference between genuine love and its many imitations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This gently comic first novel, set in Beverly Hills during the late 1950s, is narrated by a 10-year-old. Convincing depictions of a small child's mental state are one of the hardest tasks an adult fiction writer can pull off, and Diane Leslie's accomplished portrait of Fleur de Leigh is one of the better efforts in '90s fiction. While this girl has her occasional moments of adult retrospection, it bears noting that her showbiz parents have been determined to raise her as if she were a miniature adult--which, in their case, means ignoring her for long stretches of time but offering occasional insincere displays of affection. Her mother, the star of the Charmian Leigh Radio Mystery Half-Hour, aspires to a career in film or television; she even goes so far as to book a regular appointment with her shrink, not for the benefits of psychoanalysis but because "David O. Selznick had the appointment before hers. He was an important connection and this was Charmian's way to connect." Her father, meanwhile, is off producing game shows, and brings her along to one broadcast--not to show her what he does for a living but so she can help fill the studio audience. Left to fend for herself, with nominal assistance from the string of nannies that passes through the house, Fleur winds up doing things like collecting seashells or reading with a flashlight under the covers only "because I liked pretending I was a normal American child."

Fleur de Leigh's Life of Crime covers a two-and-a-half year period, and it would be very easy for Fleur herself to dominate the proceedings. But Leslie has created a rich cast of supporting characters, each of whom is given just enough space to establish a distinctive personality yet still not distract our attention from the real star of the show. From the nanny who performs her duties in high heels and gold-flecked lipstick to the loyal gardener to the aging film legend, they all contribute to Fleur's developing awareness of her inner strength, helping her to persevere in the face of her parents' casual disregard. Fleur de Leigh's Life of Crime marks a very promising beginning for a novelist in the vein of Dawn Powell and James Wilcox. --Ron Hogan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Heartbreak lies between the witty lines of this first novel by a Hollywood insider who gives the reader a comic but deadly accurate look at the decadent nature of 1950s Hollywood. The eponymous narrator is a precocious, neglected poor little rich girl who learns a little too much about life from two selfish people who have no business being parents. Fleur De Leigh is 10 when we meet her, living in the lap of luxury with her neurotic, self-involved mother and aloof father. Fleur's mother, star and creator of The Charmian Leigh Radio Mystery Half-Hour, sprinkles her conversation with high school French phrases and flirts with anything in pants. Her self-absorbed prattle, ruthless social and professional climbing and pretentiousness would be funny if they weren't so cruel. Meanwhile, Fleur's father, Maurice (formerly Morrie), belittles Fleur and sleeps with the nannies. The tale follows Fleur through her 12th year as her parents flippantly betray, seduce or sabotage her nannies and anyone else who has the bad taste to act like a real person. Eight nannies, including Fleur's grandmother, fail to pass muster; each departure leaves Fleur lonelier than before, but wiser in the ways of the adult world. As she sleuths around her Beverly Hills mansion to learn the mysteries of her life's domestic slippage, she records, with wry candor, the bizarre and vulgar milieu in which her parents move. Of all the adults Fleur encounters, only the gardener behaves with dignity and kindness. Leslie's keen eye on L.A. social mores reveals such details as the ritual morning amphetamine pill and the difficulty of finding a swimmable swimming pool, since most are designed as artsy status symbols. Light as whipped cream but flavored with acid, this is a touching story filled with emotionally impoverished rich people abusing servants with their whims, and one sharp, sensitive little girl, whose resourceful quest for love and attention is irresistible. Agent, Laurie Fox at the Linda Chester Agency. (May) FYI: As an employee of Dutton's bookstore in Brentwood, Leslie runs author readings and discussion groups.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st trade paper printing edition (June 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684867419
• ISBN-13: 978-0684867410
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,545,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Hollywood Fairy Tale Humorously Debunked, November 13, 2000

By 

Michele Caprario (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fleur De Leigh's Life of Crime: A Novel (Hardcover)

It is Hollywood in 1957, and Author Diane Leslie wittily captures the capricious Beverly Hills landscape "where flowers bloom year-round and residents' houses, designed by set decorators rather than architects, form backdrops rather than homes". 'Nuff said.The main character, adolescent "Fleur de Leigh" is beginning to realize that she is a mere supporting player to her flamboyant parents who require her to be invisible at home but to publicly imitate Shirley Temple...Fleur sets the tone for the telling of her story by first introducing us to those wonderful parent characters. Her mother is a French-gushing, B-movie actress who has created a fairly silly radio glamour venue for herself to revitalize her fading career. Her father, a former big player in the movie industry, is reduced to producing rather pathetic TV game shows.Totally immersed in their own lives as "artiste" and "mogul", detached parenting is an understatement with these two, thus setting the stage for Fleur's narrative tale of a string of nannies, cooks and other transient care givers who populate- in particularly colorful ways- her lonely childhood.The author draws upon the eccentricities of her own childhood growing up in a Hollywood family: her mother was a screenwriter, her father an entertainment lawyer with clients including Peggy Lee, Ann Miller, Jack Webb and Art Linkletter. Combine this with the fact that Ms. Leslie had some 60 nannies during her childhood and we can readily see that the comic voice we hear is one of experience.Of note: the novel's first chapter was originally a short story that won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction and was subsequently read by actress Jill Eikenberry at the J. Paul Getty Museum and broadcast nationwide on NPR's Selected Shorts.Rich, honest humor- this fresh story is a terrific read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book groups take note!, December 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fleur De Leigh's Life of Crime: A Novel (Hardcover)

Not only is Fleur delightful company one on one, she also provides great material for a lively group discussion. This is a fun and lighthearted read because of the author's artistry, but scratch softly on that lovely surface and things are boiling underneath.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful way to pass a few summer hours, June 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fleur De Leigh's Life of Crime: A Novel (Hardcover)

OK, get yourself a cold drink and head for the patio, or tuck this one in your carryon baggage for a cross county read. Perhaps I'm prejudiced: I grew up in the West LA she describes (sans nannies) and have bought books from Diane at a marvelous small book store where she leads books groups. (Eat your hearts out Amazon customers: buy it at Duttons and you get a free candy bar. Can't tell you why - you need to read the book to find out.) Diane's a delight and her personality shines through in her writing. It's a light happy read, a book you want to return to until you, regretfully, reach the last page. And the characters become part of your own memories. Don't overlook Fleur de Leigh's Life of Crime; it's not as light weight as you might think.