Limelight

Limelight Book Review

Limelight
by Melody Carlson
Initial Response: Great!!
Age: Not appropriate for young teens. Mentions In.cest. Is an incident in the main character's childhood. Is written about appropriately, but spoils the book for the teenage girl who would love the rest of the book. I was thinking about blacking that part out so my middle daughter could read it, but it has an impact in the conclusion.
Synopsis: I really enjoyed the look into the life of Claudette Fiore, someone who used to turn heads in the Hollywood scene. Married to a famous director, Claudette hosted parties and lived a lifestyle most of us only read about. Now her husband is gone, and a crooked accountant has left her poor. She returns to her small town to live in the only home she owns. It was a hoot to read about her journeys into what most of us term, daily life. Just great!! Makes me appreciate the life I have.

Not in the Limelight anymore.

I thought this book was a lot of fun. Claudette was a lady who was "past her prime" and she just wanted to give up. She even tried to end it all, but God was at work. Claudette learns a big life lesson that there is more to life than what she sees.

Love Melody Carlson Books!

I was thrilled to do a review for a Melody Carlson book. She has some really good books. This one took me a bit more time to get into, but by the second chapter was getting more into it. It isn't like most of her books, but still good. I found the character Claudette to be funny, interesting, and secretive, which kept me reading.I wanted to know more about her, and her past. If you like Melody Carlson Books, you will like this as well.

Interesting perspective

What a unique book. This book is about a Hollywood has-been in her 80's that is suffering from a case of... if I can't have what I want, then I'd rather die! So she tries to... die that is. After a failed suicide attempt we meet Claudette Fiore in a mental hospital trying to figure out how she is going to leave when she has no where to go after a recent visit from the IRS, which is what led to attempt in the first place. She calls upon her step-son Michael for help and he comes to her rescue. Only one problem, with the Beverly Hills mansion sold for back taxes that leaves her with her mother's old house back home in a town that she swore she'd never go back to. Could death be worse than this? Claudette doesn't think so. Can Michael change her mind and help her see that her life isn't over yet?

What does she do to take care of herself and her new little bungalow without the staff that has waited on her hand and foot for the last 60 years? Heavens, Claudette doesn't know how to do the dishes, wash clothes or make a bed - how is she ever going to stay alive let alone clean? When people from her past start popping into her life how will she ever survive the humiliation?
Can you really teach an old dog new tricks? Come take a journey with Claudette and see.

I really enjoyed this book and seeing how the other half lives, and I don't mean the rich and famous, I mean the elderly! Good book coming from an author who writes a lot of young adult books, it was kind of nice seeing a different side.

Enthralling novel about starting over

Limelight by Melody Carlson is an unusual and humorous book about a starting life all over again at 82. Claudette Fiore's life was one anyone would envy: wealth, fame, handsome movie director husband, beauty; the epitome of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, until her accountant paid himself instead of the IRS leaving her without a home or the kind of life she's lived for the last sixty years. At first, the news causes her to attempt suicide, but two weeks in a psychiatric facility has left her determined to live on her own again. With the help of her stepson, she returns to her hometown of Silverton, California to a house left to Claudette in her mother's will. Returning to the town she couldn't leave fast enough and the sister she hasn't spoken to in years will test her self-confidence, and she will have to find her new place in the world. Claudette's trials while trying to learn how to care for a home: washing clothes with dish detergent, starting a fire in the fireplace with a closed flue, and using her Crock-Pot as emergency bathroom facilities makes this book at times a laugh out loud riot. But there is also a powerful message about friendship and finding self worth outside of your gross income. Carlson is an outstanding author, her books for teens resonate strongly with the YA audience, but her voice in this book rings just as true. Claudette is a character I wouldn't mind visiting again!

Another best read by Melody Carlson

I swear, there is no one that can write like Melody Carlson. Each of her books have been totally distinct and unique and just simply written wonderfully. This book is no exception. We're taken this time to the story of a former It Girl from the Golden Age of Hollywood who's suddenly found herself to be old, lonely and not knowing how to live life for herself. Claudette has to adapt from living a life with servants and staff doing everything for her to having to figure out even the simplest life skill on her own. It's a moving journey for both Claudette and the reader as she has to move back to her childhood home and rediscover life.

There are parts of the book that are just hilarious yet at the same time I felt bad for laughing at Claudette's expense. I really liked how she was willing to do all these things albeit grudgingly and didn't use her age as an excuse. It really makes one think how we take all these things for granted, such as knowing how to use a washing machine or knowing that towels can be washed. To see her change throughout the book was a real eye opener that I totally enjoyed.

Something I found very interesting about this book was that there was a character who is gay, has been gay for years, and stays gay throughout the book. His lifestyle is not described in any fashion other than stating that he is gay and that he has a partner. No statements are made derogatory towards him and he is treated with respect from other characters. By the end of the book, there are hints that he has begun to go to a church that accepts him for who he is and he is interesting in knowing more about God, the Bible and church. One other thing I did find hilarious was the phrase "sex toy" being used. I honestly think that's the first time I've read that in a Christian fiction book ever!

This book REALLY makes you think, not only about about how you view life, but how your life changes when you get older and when you need to learn to stop being so prideful and accept help. Claudette's story is a wonderful read, full of humor, happiness, tears and hurt. This book is one of the best I've read this year and one that everyone should read. VERY HIGHLY recommended.

entertaining inspirational tale

Claudette never minded living on the edge of the LIMELIGHT as the wife to her beloved Hollywood legend, director husband Gavin Fiore. However, when he dies her heart breaks as she grieves her loss and fears being alone for the first time ever. She also learns she is bankrupt as all that money Gavin earned was misused by their thieving accountant.

Distraught Claudette tries suicide, but fails even at that. Despondent after her release from the hospital, she returns home to Silverton having no longer a house in Beverly Hills as that was sold to pay back taxes. Claudette has no skills whatsoever and being old means no longer can she use her beauty to get what she wants. She turns to her estranged sister Violet at the senior citizen home, but that proves fruitless as does her understanding Mother whose faith has never wavered. It is Gavin's letters that inspire Claudette.

This is an entertaining inspirational tale that deeply scrutinizes religious beliefs, and personal values through the strong elderly characters. In many ways the story line is a second chance at family. Claudette, Violet, Mother and the late Gavin as well as others make for a powerful look at what matters in life is how you treat others away from the limelight as you can teach an old dog new tricks if the goal is right; for the protagonist it has become hugs in Silverton and one day hugs with Gavin in heaven.

Harriet Klausner

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.