Relationships resolved — or not

ACTRESS by Anne Enright (Random House, $35)

Actress, the new novel by the Man Booker-winning Irish writer Anne Enright, initially resembles any number of real-life memoirs by the children of famous actors. But while it might be modelled upon books in the crowded “film-star biography” section of a store, it takes the genre to a totally different place.

Maria Riva wrote a detailed account of her actress and singer mother, entitled Marlene Dietrich, which included Dietrich waving a pair of her own panties at her daughter after an encounter with President Kennedy: “It’s him — the President of the United States — he was wonderful!” Mommie, Dearest by Christina Crawford infamously exposed the rages, alcoholism and lesbian relationships of her stepmother, 1940s’ movie star, Joan Crawford.

Enright’s central character, Katherine O’dell, is an Irish actress, observed through the eyes of Norah, her only child. The haunting cover image of the book is an uncredited but well-known photograph of future Star Wars heroine, Carrie Fisher, at the age of 6. She sits on a stool in the stage wings, in a thick coat and practical shoes, intently watching her mother, Debbie Reynolds, impossibly doll-like in a spotlight, performing at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas in 1963. The image is emblematic of the book — and its distances and intimacies should never be far from the reader’s mind.

Performers are created as much by circumstance as intent. Names are chosen for sound and visual appeal. Careers are manufactured, though luck has a role. Enright shows how British-born Katherine Anne Fitzmaurice, the child of itinerant actors, took her mother’s name, Odell, for the stage and was later “Irished” as O’dell for America. Then she became a red-head and made a “marriage blanc” with a gay actor. Katherine O’dell, in short, is a “great fake”.

Succeeding in post-war London, Hollywood and Broadway before returning to Dublin, Katherine’s career is recalled by Norah, incident by incident. It does not need to be emphasised that this information is onesided and told by an involved individual. Each of us is trapped by our own singular perspectives. Enright’s skill is to open up O’dell’s and Norah’s blinkered worlds with tenderness, allowing the novel’s readers both participation and distance.

Enright’s abilities as a writer are clearly on display in Actress. A highly believable story plays out against exact period detail. The novel is both a tragedy and a triumph. Mysteries, including Norah’s exact parentage, are set out, gradually exposed and resolved — or not resolved. A shooting with a gun may or may not be what it initially seems. People age and change. Enright allows us glimpses of both “before” and “after” in juxtaposition.

Actress manages to fit many passionate human lives between its covers. Norah’s story is paired with Katherine’s to great effect. The novel is about celebrity, fame and scandal, along with mother/daughter relationships and the mysteries of acting and the theatre. It has been well-researched, well-conceived, and it is enriched by Enright’s own youthful background on the stage. The skill of the prose, the power of the story, and the depth of the content are unarguable.