Esther Freud (Hideous Kinky) is the daughter of Lucian Freud and great-granddaughter of Sigmund. In this novel, she draws on her early experience of studying to be an actress.
It is the first day at Drama Arts, and the first-year class is filled with trepidation, hope and holy zeal for the acting profession. The teacher says, "We want to do everything we can here to rid you of the desire to perform. We want you to learn to BE. To exist in your own world on the stage." Those words resonate with each of the class members.
Nell, a doughy girl who believes she is best suited to be cast as a maid, is the most likable and normal and, as it turns out, she has real talent. Beautiful Charlie, "with toffee-coloured skin and peroxide hair cropped short against her head," fights a constant battle to keep that skin perfect--so much so that she exaggerates the slightest blemish, rendering her unwilling to leave the house. Dan is ambition personified. He falls for Jemma on the first day; they eventually marry and have four kids. His goal is to play Hamlet, and, at book's end, it looks like it just might happen.
Each of the actors suffers the agony of the failed audition, waiting for the agent to call, not getting a gig, living from hand to mouth, working pizza jobs, temping--anything to allow them to keep chasing the golden chimera of success.
Nell wonders if there is any such thing as the "lucky break," and then, finally, she gets one. At the benefit opening for her film, she is in a receiving line awaiting Prince Charles and Camilla. Esther Freud knows all about this business; her writing is filled with insight, humor and an insider's view. On the night of the opening, Nell's producers present her with a "luxuriantly thick, white towelling dressing gown every hotel begs you not to steal." Nell reflects: "How odd, she thought, when I could finally afford to buy it, and she started to see how much easier it was to stay rich once you'd begun." --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Ore.