What do readers think of Actress by Anne Enright? Write your own review.

Anne Enright, author of "Actress A Novel" has written a poignant, intense and emotional story. The Genre for this Novel is Fiction, although there is a feeling that it is a memoir or biography. The author explores the complex relationship between a mother and daughter. The timeline for the story is set in the past and the author's present when it pertains to the characters or events. Katherine O'Dell is an Irish actress that has also been on the stage in England and The United States. Norah is her daughter and at times has questions about her mother's role as an actress and the deep dark secrets that she feels are being held from her. The author describes her characters as complex and complicated. Norah is on a quest after her mother's life to learn the answers to these questions.

The story starts off very slowly and is detailed, but then becomes repetitive and confusing. There is one part of the story where Norah is celebrating her 21st birthday, her mother and other guests celebrating around the table. Then all of a sudden, there is a 58-year-old version of Norah, who is married with grown children.  The mother is proud of her new appliances in Ireland and then is in the United States on the stage. The author mentions the grandparents, and then it appears we are in a different place. Perhaps some pages in the ARC were missing, but it was frustrating keeping track of what was going on.

I would like to thank W.N.Norton & Company and BookBrowse Books for the Advanced Reading Copy of "Actress A Novel" by Anne Enright. 

This book is very different from Anne Enright's previous novels. It is the story of Katherine O'Dell, a famous Irish actress told from her daughter Norah's perspective and memories. After her mother's death at 59, Norah tries to find out as much about her life as possible. She explores the secrets her mother kept and tries to understand the act of violence that led to her mother's hospitalization in a psychiatric unit. Norah remembers the colorful, loud and fun parties that her mother hosted, along with her mother's heavy drinking and depression as she aged, and parts for her dried up. The book seemed to go on and on with no real center other than the ongoing story of Katherine's life. It became boring after a while.

Character driven story about an Irish ? Actress and her daughter . The writing was good but for me the story dragged and seemed to go in circles.

I wish I had liked this book. I found it dense, dark, dull and sometimes obtuse. I kept waiting for the revelation that was going to make everything meaningful and the big reveal never really occurs. Very Irish with many references that meant nothing to me. Not one I'd recommend. 2.5

Haven't we heard this story before? This book is a barely fictionalized amalgamation of several tell-all Hollywood memoirs, written by embittered daughters about their movie star mothers. It was never a pretty story, and the reader needs a persuasive argument to travel down that road again. This story rambles and whines, without ever justifying the trouble it takes to travel its dull and meandering paths.

Anne Enright's novel, Actress, sparked my interest in the first pages, but, sadly that first impression was not sustained. The two main characters are mother, actress Katherine, and daughter, Norah. Memories concerning their relationship and circle of friends rambled all over creation. Katherine's favorite word, marvelous, definitely can not be used to describe this book. I could not recommend it.