Starlet - by Anushka Joshi (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A sweeping debut novel following a glamorous and entrancing Hollywood starlet who makes history while carrying a secret that, if exposed, could cost her everything.

Slim, dark-haired, nineteen. The year is 1929 and Estelle Thompson's pours over magazines inspecting the local beauties of Bombay who look nothing like her. Her days feel enchanted when she meets a young English officer who shares her love of the movies. When Estelle reveals her most guarded secret, the engagement falls through. And so, she decides to throw practicality aside and pursue a career on the screen.

Estelle reinvents herself as the elusive, vampy Merle Oberon. She spends her days falling in love again and again for the camera, then spends her nights waltzing along the red carpet in gorgeous gowns. Long days under studio lights cement Merle's place as a household name. But Merle's celebrity is conditional. Only her mother, disguised as her maid, knows the truth behind Merle's picture-perfect smile.

The day comes when Merle is nominated for an Oscar, making history unbeknownst to anyone around her. But away from the headrush of fame, Estelle finds herself anchorless in the world of glitz and glamour, continuing her necessary façade long after the director yells cut.

Searing, delightfully atmospheric and wholly mesmerizing, Starlet is impossible to forget.

Review Quotes

"This is a debut novel of astonishing ambition and charm. A warmly sympathetic exploration of the private/secret life of actress Merle Oberon. Starlet is an unexpected Hollywood love story, and a mother-daughter story that will linger long in the memory."
--Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde

"Starlet is a lyrical portrayal of the spectacular rise of Merle Oberon, an actress with deep secrets who achieved dazzling heights. Joshi perfectly captures Merle's tenacity and courage as well as the fraught political scene between the World Wars. What a gorgeous book--I loved it from start to finish."
--Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Queen

"Much more than a compelling story about the early days of Hollywood, Starlet is a fascinating examination of a life caught between what the public wants and what the heart needs to survive."
--Patrick Ryan, author of the New York Times bestseller, Buckeye

"Only an exceptional novelist could do justice to the exceptional, enigmatic life of Merle Oberon. Anushka Joshi's debut novel is exhilarating: saturated in the grit and glamor of early Hollywood, poignant in its rendering of fractured inner lives. I not only love this novel--I'm grateful for its existence."
--Tania James, author of the National Book Award Longlisted Loot

"In an act of pure seductive mesmerism Starlet reimagines Merle Oberon's racial masquerade with startling emotional force. The impossibly talented Joshi writes with such exhilaration and wit that you'll finish Starlet in awe and immediately hungry for what she pens next. Novels can't win Oscars but Joshi's extraordinary debut really should."
--Junot Díaz, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"Anushka Joshi has written a gorgeous novel about the roles we play to survive and the people who, out of love, play them alongside us. Starlet moves across time and geography with confidence, wisdom, and some of the most beautiful sentences being written now. The closing pages left me undone in the best possible way."
--Jonathan Safran Foer, New York Times bestselling author of Here I Am

About the Author

Anushka Joshi was born and raised in Ahmedabad, India, and also grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and Austin, Texas. She has an MFA in fiction from New York University, where she was on the Goldwater fellowship. Starlet is her first novel.