The Blonde
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
At the height of the Cold War, Marilyn Monroe was the most infamous woman in the world. But what if she was also a secret Soviet spy?
In 1947, a young, unknown Norma Jeane Baker meets a mysterious man in Los Angeles who transforms her into Marilyn Monroe, the star. Twelve years later he comes back for his repayment, and Marilyn is given her first assignment from the KGB: uncover something about JFK that no one else knows.
But a simple job turns complicated when Marilyn falls in love with the bright young President, and learns of plans to assassinate Kennedy. More than anything, Marilyn wants to escape her Soviet handlers and save her love -- and herself. Desperate, ruthless and brilliant, what she does next will leave readers reeling.
From New York Times bestselling author Anna Godbersen comes a whip-smart re-imagining of the life of Marilyn Monroe, set in a world of silver screen glamour and political intrigue. At once a crackling portrayal of Old Hollywood, an intimate portrait of the larger-than-life star, and a cat-and-mouse thriller, The Blonde is history rewritten as it could have -- and might have been.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Children's author Godbersen (The Luxe) makes her adult debut with an engaging what-if thriller and love story. In New York City in March 1959, a Soviet intelligence agent, who happens to have been responsible for boosting Marilyn Monroe's movie career in 1947, recruits the megastar to gather information on up-and-coming politician John Kennedy. In exchange, the Russian agent promises to reunite Monroe with her long-lost father. Monroe travels to Chicago, where she easily gains the future president's attention at a hotel restaurant. They begin an affair that continues into the White House. The unlikely plot developments leading up to J.F.K.'s assassination in Dallas do nothing to diminish the author's memorable warts-and-all portrayal of Monroe, alone and unhappy despite her fame and her celebrity husbands. The prose captures the atmosphere surrounding Hollywood at the time perfectly (e.g., some hangers-on at a party are "not quite actresses and not entirely prostitutes").
