Starred review from May 1, 2019
Lee Koe's (Ministry of Moral Panic, 2013) decade- and continent-spanning novel follows the intersecting lives and careers of three 20th-century film greats. At the Berlin Press Ball 1928, three young women meet: Anna May Wong, an up-and-coming Chinese-American actress in Hollywood; Marlene Dietrich, a loudmouthed German trying to break into the business; and Leni Riefenstahl, a striving director just embarking on a career making Nazi propaganda films. From there the narration branches out, in alternating, braided sections, to trace the arcs of their lives. An octogenarian Marlene, bedridden in a Paris apartment, receives flirtatious phone calls from a mysterious young man who recites Rilke to her every Sunday, and she's cared for by a Chinese maid named Bébé, who has fled her rural village in Taishan and a prostitution ring in Marseilles. Anna May wrestles with her romantic feelings for Marlene after a brief post-Press Ball tryst as they co-star in Shanghai Express, and she battles against regular takedowns in the Chinese press, her laundry-owning parents' disapproval of her career, and Hollywood's--and the world's--limited roles and expectations for a Chinese-American woman. "And where are you from? Los Angeles, Anna May said. Before that? Anna May shook her head, repeated herself: Los Angeles. But where were you born? Los Angeles, she said." Leni Riefenstahl shoots her film Tiefland in the Bavarian Alps, using Roma and Sinti extras from a concentration camp while navigating her relationships with Hitler and Goebbels, and eventually faces public vitriol and rape threats for those Nazi ties. For a novel so dense with historical fact and larger-than-life celebrity cameos (everyone from John F. Kennedy to Walter Benjamin to David Bowie), its portrayals are nuanced enough that each character comes off as deeply human regardless of their fame or importance to the novel's plot. "In retrospective appraisal, [Marlene] divided her affairs not by gender or duration, but those for whom she'd cooked pot-au-feu and those she had not....Marlene would not have guessed that she had one more pot-au-feu left in her, and for an anonymous caller no less." It's the steady accumulation of intimate details like these that creates a sweeping sense of history that feels truly alive. Expansive, complex, and utterly engrossing.
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May 27, 2019
Koe’s ambitious and well-researched debut novel (after the story collection
Ministry of Moral Panic) successfully melds historical fact with expansive and generous storytelling. Inspired by a 1928 photograph that captured Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong, and Leni Riefenstahl posing for Alfred Eisenstaedt at a Berlin party, the overlapping narratives start with that moment and then spiral outwards, exploring the decades that follow in each woman’s life. Dietrich, having retreated from the spotlight and become a recluse in her old age, hopes she’s found one final admirer. The American-born Wong, whose prospects for leading lady roles were limited by antimiscegenation laws, later grapples with accusations that her career perpetuated Asian stereotypes. And Riefenstahl defends her political and artistic choices, notably Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will, which she produced and directed. The book’s most emotionally resonant sections often come from the stories of tangential characters—an electrician in Riefenstahl’s crew, for example, or the elderly Dietrich’s young Chinese housekeeper, Bébé. Very occasionally, the inclusion of the famous characters’ biographies reads like a Wikipedia entry; more often, however, the details of each woman’s life and work are fully integrated into an exploration of her inner life. Throughout, their stories contend with the notion of authenticity in life and art—of how performers define themselves in the public sphere and behind closed doors. Readers will find much to ponder in these vivid, fictionalized deep dives into three women who changed cinema.
August 2, 2019
DEBUT Three women whose lives revolve around celluloid film are photographed together at a 1928 Berlin nightclub. They include Leni Riefenstahl, the actress and movie director who made films approved by Hitler and Goebbels; Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American movie star; and popular box office hit and Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich. Winner of the Singapore Literature Prize for her story collection, Ministry of Moral Panic, first novelist Koe uses that photograph to explore important periods in the lives of these three women. Their personal issues become more broadly significant as we read about the racism facing Wong, the horrible fascist taint that Riefenstahl could not escape, and the decline from stardom and eventual ravages of aging endured by the narcissistic Dietrich. VERDICT Koe's flawless and enchanting writing draws readers directly into the lives and times of these women as well as the minor characters in this superb novel. Book discussion groups will enjoy devouring this fantastic debut. [See Prepub Alert, 1/23/19.]--Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2019
Expansive and engaging, Koe's debut novel explores the lives of three famous women, their art, and the price of fame. A 1928 photo capturing German-American actress Marlene Dietrich; Hollywood's first Chinese-American star, Anna May Wong; and Nazi-financed director Leni Riefenstahl together in Berlin serves as Koe's jumping-off point. While the women's lives do intersect over the years through film (and a short-lived affair between Marlene and Anna May), the majority of the book is told through their separate points of view at various times in their lives: Anna May resenting her limited roles, Leni shooting her final film at the closing of WWII, Marlene struggling through Vegas shows. Readers also get stories of those in the women's orbit, like the director that helped shape Marlene's career, Marlene's caretaker in her old age, and a former German soldier working on Leni's set. Koe brings her well-known protagonists to life, and manages a sprawling story with panache. This has wide appeal for historical-fiction enthusiasts, film buffs, and readers looking for a WWII novel with a twist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
Starred review from May 1, 2019
Lee Koe's (Ministry of Moral Panic, 2013) decade- and continent-spanning novel follows the intersecting lives and careers of three 20th-century film greats. At the Berlin Press Ball 1928, three young women meet: Anna May Wong, an up-and-coming Chinese-American actress in Hollywood; Marlene Dietrich, a loudmouthed German trying to break into the business; and Leni Riefenstahl, a striving director just embarking on a career making Nazi propaganda films. From there the narration branches out, in alternating, braided sections, to trace the arcs of their lives. An octogenarian Marlene, bedridden in a Paris apartment, receives flirtatious phone calls from a mysterious young man who recites Rilke to her every Sunday, and she's cared for by a Chinese maid named B�b�, who has fled her rural village in Taishan and a prostitution ring in Marseilles. Anna May wrestles with her romantic feelings for Marlene after a brief post-Press Ball tryst as they co-star in Shanghai Express, and she battles against regular takedowns in the Chinese press, her laundry-owning parents' disapproval of her career, and Hollywood's--and the world's--limited roles and expectations for a Chinese-American woman. "And where are you from? Los Angeles, Anna May said. Before that? Anna May shook her head, repeated herself: Los Angeles. But where were you born? Los Angeles, she said." Leni Riefenstahl shoots her film Tiefland in the Bavarian Alps, using Roma and Sinti extras from a concentration camp while navigating her relationships with Hitler and Goebbels, and eventually faces public vitriol and rape threats for those Nazi ties. For a novel so dense with historical fact and larger-than-life celebrity cameos (everyone from John F. Kennedy to Walter Benjamin to David Bowie), its portrayals are nuanced enough that each character comes off as deeply human regardless of their fame or importance to the novel's plot. "In retrospective appraisal, [Marlene] divided her affairs not by gender or duration, but those for whom she'd cooked pot-au-feu and those she had not....Marlene would not have guessed that she had one more pot-au-feu left in her, and for an anonymous caller no less." It's the steady accumulation of intimate details like these that creates a sweeping sense of history that feels truly alive. Expansive, complex, and utterly engrossing.
COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.