When I was approached to take part in the blog tour of Love & Fame I was intrigued by both the description of the novel, a highly-strung comedy about love, fame, grief, show business and the depths of the gutter press; and also its writer, Susie Boyt as she is the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud.
What I discovered from reading, this is a book that really focuses on anxiety and grief, but in a refreshing way as it is full of wit and humour. Boyt’s clever use of witty language brilliantly portrays how we as a society deal with worry and bereavement. It is full of dark humour that made me smile, yet it is a dark humour that is very profound.
Love & Fame is the story of Eve, a failed young actress from an esteemed theatrical family that is ‘as highly strung as a violin factory‘, who in the first few weeks of her marriage has to cope with the death of her father. Eve is married to Jim, an anxiety expert; it is his passion. So much so, he is writing a book on it, but Eve does not want to be his muse. Hence the question is asked, must the show always go on?
As I mention above, Susie Boyt is the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud which piqued my interest (as an English student at uni I was always referring to Freud). So halfway through the novel
when Eve finds Jim reading Freud, you can imagine how I was really intrigued. Yet I find Boyt’s writing sheer comedy:
Eve opened the front door carefully. Jim was reading a book by Sigmund Freud. This morning it had been the Dalai Lama. Yesterday, yestere’en it was Dolly Parton. What the actual fuck…?
Running parallel to Eve’s story is the story of two sisters, Beatrice and Rebecca, who, although years ago, have also had to deal with the death of a parent. Beatrice, nicknamed Beach and very protective of Rebecca became a bereavement counsellor, a ‘deathspert‘. Rebecca on the other hand has never got over the death of her mother and is estranged from her father. Rebecca is a tabloid journalist. The story of the sisters becomes interwoven with Eve’s story which dramatically impacts them all.
Thank you Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the Love & Fame blog tour. I found this book a really refreshing, witty and intelligent read. Thank you Susie Boyt for writing such a great novel. I will definitely be reading your other books.
If you fancy finding out what my fellow book bloggers have to say about Love & Fame, please take a look at the blog tour below.
Love & Fame is available now, so go out and grab your copy.
My rating:
Thanks so much for the Blog Tour support x