#20BooksOfSummer2022 BLONDE by JOYCE CAROL OATES

What a way for me to start off my 20 Books Journey!!  It was worth the effort and all 939 pages were a masterpiece!!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Who was Norma Jeane Baker?

In ‘Blonde’ we are given an intimate, unsparing vision of the woman who became Marilyn Monroe like no other: the child who visits the cinema with her mother; the orphan whose mother is declared mad; the woman who changes her name to become an actress; the fated celebrity, lover, comedienne, muse and icon. Joyce Carol Oates tells an epic American story of how a fragile, gifted young woman makes and remakes her identity, surviving against crushing odds, perpetually in conflict and intensely driven. Here is the very essence of the individual hungry and needy for love: from an elusive mother; from a mysterious, distant father and from a succession of lovers and husbands. Joyce Carol Oates sympathetically explores the inner life of the woman destined to become Hollywood’s most compelling legend. ‘Blonde’ is a brilliant and deeply moving portrait of a culture hypnotised by its own myths and the shattering reality of the personal effects it had on the woman who became Marilyn Monroe.

MY REVIEW

This is book 1 of my 20 Books of Summer 2022.

Wow! Wow! Wow!! I knew I was in for an epic read but I didn’t think it was going to consume me in the way that it did! I love Marilyn, and have read numerous non fiction books about it, so was unsure how to feel about this ‘novel’, but Joyce Carol Oates has worked her magic in an extraordinary way! Blending fact with fiction and taking you behind the legend that Marilyn became, and showing you the real person – the sadness and the tragedy behind this woman who was always searching for a feeling of contentment and peace, even from an early age, but finding herself being used.

The novel portrays her as extremely fragile, looking for happiness from her childhood through to adulthood and how her career gave her momentary glimpses of how wonderful life could be, alongside the dismal reality of how men in her life couldn’t cope with her fame and wanted control over her. I just wanted to time travel and go back and give her a big hug!! She craved stability and acceptance and over the 900+ pages we saw how that need was there throughout her life.

If I could give this book 6 stars I would! Just amazing!!

★★★★★

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#BookReview BOMBSHELL: THE NIGHT BOBBY KENNEDY KILLED MARILYN MONROE by MIKE ROTHMILLER,DOUGLAS THOMPSON @AdLibPublishers

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bombshell: The Night Bobby Kennedy Murdered Marilyn Monroe tells the essential truth of the death of Marilyn Monroe at the hand of Robert Kennedy, Attorney General of the United States. Drawing on unseen police files, Marilyn Monroe’s private diary, and first-hand testimony, this book proves that Robert Kennedy was directly responsible for her death. It details Marilyn Monroe’s tumultuous personal involvement with him and his brother, President John Kennedy. The new evidence and testimony is provided by Mike Rothmiller who, as an agent of the Organized Crime Intelligence Division (OCID) of the LAPD, had direct personal access to hundreds of secret files on exactly what happened at Marilyn Monroe’s Californian home on August 5, 1962. With his training and specialist knowledge, Rothmiller used that unseen information to get to the heart of the matter, to the people who were there the night Marilyn Monroe died—two of whom played major roles in the cover-up—and the wider conspiracy to protect the Kennedys at all costs. There will be those with doubts, but to them, the lawman—who has advised the White House, the Pentagon, and international crime agencies—says the printed, forensic, and oral evidence are totally convincing. He insists: “If I presented my evidence in any court of law, I’d get a conviction.” Includes eight pages of black and white photographs.

PUBLISHED BY AD LIB PUBLISHERS

PURCHASE LINK

AMAZON

MY REVIEW

As a long time fan of Marilyn Monroe, I couldn’t pick this book up quick enough! And the contents haven’t disappointed! Wow!!  Talk about corruption everywhere and it has left me even more convinced that her death was murder and not a ‘suicide’ as originally framed. 

The authors of this book had access to a number of hugely confidential police files, and the evidence is damming!  Not only does it set out the events of that night clearly, through eye witness accounts along with crime scene evidence, it also looks closely at the diary entries by Marilyn herself and looks back at over her life, the highs and lows, and also looks at the goings on at LAPD over the years, alongside links to the mafia and those at the highest levels of Government.  It seems that most celebrities and their houses were being bugged at the time and files kept on their behaviour…. just in case they were needed to be used against them!

And in Marilyn they had a prime target with her associations to so many in Hollywood and Washington.  It really gives a damning look at the corruption at every level – from the Kennedys’, to the police chiefs, the mob…… sleaze central!! I was staggered at the revelations and the research was comprehensive and exhaustive as no stone seemed to be unturned in wondering what DID happen that night, and why so many were so keen to cover up the reality and frame the scene to draw away attention from her close relationships.

There were so many  red flags with this case at the time, and ever since. Telephone records going missing, issues with the autopsy not being thorough enough and evidence going missing, dodgy behaviour of people at the scene that night and why it took so long to call someone… the list goes on and this book does a wonderful job of putting the evidence all together and painting a very worrying picture of just how widespread the corruption was, and how this global superstar was seemingly ‘too close for comfort’ with those wanting more power and they wanted her out of the way.

Brilliantly researched and put together. One of those books that stun and shock, along make you feel very sad for this young woman who was seemingly used over all her career, even by many big names who seemed to have no compassion or care for her.  It has made me think very differently about many ‘star’ names from the past and look at Hollywood in a very different light with the goings on documented throughout the book.  A powerful book!!

★★★★★