An unlikely alliance between a rising starlet and a determined photographer develops into a lifelong friendship that generates iconic images, as Lynn Cullen (The Woman with the Cure) sensitively portrays in When We Were Brilliant, a vibrantly detailed novel of Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold.
Cullen writes from the perspective of Eve, the only woman to photograph Marilyn, who recounts the story of their friendship. When the two meet in 1952, Marilyn's fame is blossoming and Eve is gaining recognition as a freelance documentary photographer. Marilyn notes their shared struggle: "Men think they are in charge. Well, let them think that!" She challenges Eve to pursue her goal of illustrating truths through photography. Although Eve's husband resents her career and what he calls her "snapshots," she covers historic events, including civil rights sit-ins and Joseph McCarthy's hearings in the U.S. Senate during the Red Scare. But for a decade, she never loses sight of her commitment to honestly portray Norma Jeane Baker, the vulnerable, talented, self-described "dirty orphan girl" who'd become the world's sex goddess and Eve's best friend. Capturing "the relaxed, unglamorous smile of a friend" was Eve's reward for traveling to Marilyn's events and movie locations.
Set mainly in New York City, When We Were Brilliant colorfully depicts the 1950s and early '60s. Eve regrets never publishing a planned book before Marilyn's death in 1962, but Cullen's novel concludes tenderly as Eve, at 80, reflects on her 1987 book, Marilyn Monroe: An Appreciation: "I was the camera. And you, Norma Jeane, were you. But most important, we, together, were us." --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.