Calais Hardcover – 1 May 1979

It's a lovely story, but the book itself is not in the very good condition described, yellowed , old , smelly.

Calais is the story of actress Arlette Morgan's rise to fame and fortune from the 1940s to the 1960s. Arlette is orphaned at the age of five, and Winsor convincingly explores how early loss shapes her character and influences her life choices. Arlette believes that if it were not for her parents' death, she would not have decided to become an actress. While her sense of her own mortality pushes her towards early success, acting provides a way for her to live more than one life. Her succession of love affairs, which sometimes seem under-motivated, might also stem from this need to live as fully as possible.Winsor is especially adept at exploring female rivalry, and she has great fun with all the tropes that belong to this type of fiction: the college friends after the same part, the understudy waiting in the wings for the star to sprain her ankle, the showdown between the ambitious Eve Harrington-type ingenue and the understudy-turned-star. Her depiction of female friendship is less convincing. Arlette would seem a loner if it weren't for the revolving door ushering her men in and out.Arlette sleeps with her leading men, her directors and anyone else who catches her fancy, but rarely uses the relationship to her advantage, and in fact, has a lot to put up with from the men in her life - especially consort Anthony De Forest. The prologue, set in 1966, allows the reader a glimpse of Arlette and Anthony's glamorous married life, positioning them somewhere between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Yet I didn't care for Anthony much: he seemed arrogant, controlling and insecure all at the same time.As a depiction of the theatrical world Calais doesn't have the authentic ring of, for example, Noel Streatfeild's adult novels, and I found myself seriously doubting quite a few details, such as whether a horse would be able to gallop across the stage. Apart from any lack of realism (which I may be wrong about, as I've never worked in the theatre) Calais has the faults of Winsor's other books: after Anthony and Arlette marry the novel sags and begins to seem episodic. The last third is very overwritten, and the book doesn't so much end as simply come to a stop. However, it was worth reading as I found much of the novel the engrossing read it was meant to be - a book for women, about a woman who lives out her dreams.

That just about sums it up.There's this actress, and you're introduced to her as she's getting off a plane. She's just met a man who attracts her, but she doesn't know his name. From there, you go into a long reminiscence of her life, up to present, then somehow that merges into the pursuit of the man she's just met on the plane. The thing is, there's no feeling of progression in the character of the actress.She jumps from love affair to love affair and part to part. She approaches each love affair in much the same way. She approaches each role in the same way, too. You'll get a tour of all the roles that have made actresses famous, and get her personal interpretation of each one, but trust me, it won't be anything enlightening. She's famous and glamorous, so if that's what you're looking for, you'll get it in abundance.The supposed love-of-her-life is really no different in substance from any of her other loves, except that he happens to be working in some other venue than the theatre.The end is anticlimactic, and I got the distinct impression that the author was simply getting tired of going on and on about a character that wasn't going anywhere, and had to kill her off.I don't even know why the book is called "Calais." It's not as if this part of France plays any role in her story. Some other reviewer can remind me if it did, 'cause I plumb forgot the significance.A very disappointing read after "Forever Amber." And I picked this book because it had the best review of all the others she's written.

The story is centered around Lily Malone. Her parents die in an automobile accident and that loss drives her to a passion for the stage (not really sure why) - and that means being the center of it and not in a supporting role. Catching the eye (and bed) of one of the college professors she eventually strikes out for New York with a name change to Arlette Morgan. A few acting lessons, a few lucky breaks and then a role co-starring with Anthony De Forest and she's well on her way to super-stardom, but what about happiness?After this we're pretty much treated to Anthony and Arlette's stormy marriage (no spoilers, it's on the back jacket) which is oh-so-similar to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's (including playing Anthony and Cleopatra, although our pair didn't flop) and eventually Arlette finds her life at a crossroads. Will she risk her career (and those who depend on them) by separating the acting team of Morgan and De Forest, or should she give it all up for true love? Eh, by this time I was so tired of Arlette's revolving bedroom door along with her pretty dresses and furs and *acting* her own life I was pretty lost by this point and skimming a great deal.I felt the most interesting parts were the backstage details of how a play and/or movie are just pieces of the puzzle until the cast and the director can tie them together into one fluid piece. As much as I liked the backstage scenes, it began to wear thin after a while . Yes, I know Arlette got hurt but did she really need that many lovers to get even? That said, the ending certainly took me by surprise and if you must have a picture perfect HEA you do not want to enter here. If you're a fan of the stage and theatre this might interest you, but I'd recommend other readers give this a miss. 3/5 stars.I did have quite a senior moment in the prologue during Arlette's airplane flight and can't resist sharing. Raise your hand if you can remember these days, "The stewardess fixed two trays side by side, and so it seemed they were to be companions in taking airborne communion. She began to eat slowly, and he took a forkful of steak..."STEAK? Oh yes, and there were stewardesses instead of flight attendents as well.

Calais is the story of actress Arlette Morgan's rise to fame and fortune from the 1940s to the 1960s. Arlette is orphaned at the age of five, and Winsor convincingly explores how early loss shapes her character and influences her life choices. Arlette believes that if it were not for her parents' death, she would not have decided to become an actress. While her sense of her own mortality pushes her towards early success, acting provides a way for her to live more than one life. Her succession of love affairs, which sometimes seem under-motivated, might also stem from this need to live as fully as possible.Winsor is especially adept at exploring female rivalry, and she has great fun with all the tropes that belong to this type of fiction: the college friends after the same part, the understudy waiting in the wings for the star to sprain her ankle, the showdown between the ambitious Eve Harrington-type ingenue and the understudy-turned-star. Her depiction of female friendship is less convincing. Arlette would seem a loner if it weren't for the revolving door ushering her men in and out.Arlette sleeps with her leading men, her directors and anyone else who catches her fancy, but rarely uses the relationship to her advantage, and in fact, has a lot to put up with from the men in her life - especially consort Anthony De Forest. The prologue, set in 1966, allows the reader a glimpse of Arlette and Anthony's glamorous married life, positioning them somewhere between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Yet I didn't care for Anthony much: he seemed arrogant, controlling and insecure all at the same time.As a depiction of the theatrical world Calais doesn't have the authentic ring of, for example, Noel Streatfeild's adult novels, and I found myself seriously doubting quite a few details, such as whether a horse would be able to gallop across the stage. Apart from any lack of realism (which I may be wrong about, as I've never worked in the theatre) Calais has the faults of Winsor's other books: after Anthony and Arlette marry the novel sags and begins to seem episodic. The last third is very overwritten, and the book doesn't so much end as simply come to a stop. However, it was worth reading as I found much of the novel the engrossing read it was meant to be - a book for women, about a woman who lives out her dreams.