From rags to riches

SHEILO Author: Irma Publisher: Self-published Year: 2017 Pages: 392

This is a story in two parts, all about the same person.

It tells the story of Sheilah Graham, from her poor beginnings in a poor house in London’s most poor suburbs, an orphanage, to riches. Pushed by her determination to never be poor again and aided by her beauty, she moves on and up, first as a maid, then as a salesperson, then as a companion to a millionaire, then to marriage to a businessman who went bankrupt. Then to the West End’s theatre-land and the footlights and fame, and from there to the aristocracy, the landed gentry, with titles and debutantes at the Palace and hunts and skiing in the Swiss Alps and whatnot.

From these giddy heights, she became a journalist, writing her impressions of life around her. She became famous and relocated to the United States, divorcing her husband in the process. She became more intimate with show biz and with Hollywood.

It was in these circumstances that she met the real love of her life, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The rest of the book, almost half I would say, tells the story of this tormented relationship. He was far older than she was, and his excessive drinking had made him sickly. His years of fame were in the 1920s (this was the late 1930, before the war). His books, such as The Great Gatsby, reflected the society of the 1920s.

His personal life was in sham- bles – his wife was in a sanatorium and he had begun working as a scriptwriter in Hollywood, a difficult job considering the many changes of the directors’ mood for whom scriptwriters, even one as talented as Scott, were expendable.

Nevertheless, they fell in love. In his sane moments, he was caring, inventive and funny. But whenever he drank, he became uncontrollable and pugnacious and ended up losing writing opportunities.

With her, he was, as much as drink allowed him to be, caring and protective. He taught her the value of words and helped her with her radio talks. Her career blossomed and she became a celebrity, which led to her travelling around the US, with Scott many times unable to join her because the pilots would not allow him on the plane when he was drunk.

And so they lived, until the day he died. Sheilah’s story remained hidden for many years until she plucked up enough courage to write it.

Curiously, the script of the translation into Maltese lay untouched in a drawer for many years, as the author, Irma, wrote and translated other books. Until one day, she decided to give it life and publish it. It is a moving story, told in simple lan- guage and with moments of touching sentiment.