First published 2002
Norma Jeane Baker stands before a mirror, practicing smiles that will one day captivate millions. Oates takes readers inside the mind of the woman who became Marilyn Monroe, tracing her journey from an unstable childhood through her transformation into America's most famous blonde bombshell. The novel follows Norma Jeane as she navigates foster homes, failed marriages, and the brutal machinery of Hollywood stardom. She struggles to reconcile her private self with the manufactured persona that brings her fame but strips away her humanity. As photographers capture her image and directors shape her performances, she loses pieces of herself to the insatiable appetite of celebrity culture. The woman behind the icon fights to maintain her identity while the world demands she remain forever frozen as the perfect blonde fantasy. Oates reveals the cost of becoming a legend.
Genres: fiction, drama, american-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Hollywood
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
944 pages · Paperback · Plaza y Janes
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness