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    Whisper of the Moon Moth
    Whisper of the Moon Moth
    Whisper of the Moon Moth
    Audiobook10 hours

    Whisper of the Moon Moth

    Written by Lindsay Jayne Ashford

    Narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From the author of The Color of Secrets and The Woman on the Orient Express comes a poignant novel inspired by the Hollywood legend—and the secrets of—actress Merle Oberon, famous for playing Cathy to Laurence Olivier’s Heathcliff in the film Wuthering Heights.

    For nineteen-year-old Estelle Thompson, going to the cinema is more than a way to pass the time…it’s a way out. In 1931 in Calcutta, Anglo-Indian girls like Estelle are considered half-breeds, shunned by both English and Indian society. Her only escape is through the silver screen, where she can forget the world around her.

    When Estelle catches the eye of a dashing American heir with connections to a major motion-picture studio, he also captures her heart. Soon, Estelle has a one-way ticket to London and a recommendation for a screen test.

    To get to the top, she must keep her Indian heritage concealed—and so begins her new identity as movie goddess Merle Oberon. But just as her dreams are poised to come true, she discovers that her own family is keeping a much more shocking secret from her—one that changes everything she’s believed about her past.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 1, 2017
    ISBN9781543613797
    Whisper of the Moon Moth
    Author

    Lindsay Jayne Ashford

    Lindsay Jayne Ashford is a former BBC journalist and the first woman to graduate from Queens’ College Cambridge with a master’s degree in criminology. Originally from Wolverhampton, she now lives on the west Wales coast. She is the author of the Megan Rhys crime novels Frozen and Strange Blood.

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    Reviews for Whisper of the Moon Moth

    3.5/5

    31 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I selected this book based on the life of actress Merle Oberon, because it opens in 1931 Calcutta. Ashford deftly creates a believable atmosphere as she opens her story about Estelle Merle Thompson, a young Anglo-Indian girl who loves movies, amateur dramatics, and nightclubs where she gains entry passing as white. One night she meets one-time actor Ben Finney who takes her along on a very interesting safari. As he says farewell, Finney gives Estelle the name of a producer in London.Estelle discovers the London of her dreams is not the one she’s living in. She takes a job as a club hostess, takes a screen test, and eventually comes to the notice of producer/director Alexander Korda who mentors Estelle’s film career, beginning with her name change to Merle Oberon, and a new identity unconnected to India. Whisper of the Moon Moth is an engaging story of secrets and self-termination.
    • 4/5
      My knowledge of Merle Oberon is fairly limited - she played Lady Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel, the most famous film version of one of my favourite novels (and had a steamy affair with married co-star Leslie Howard, which the author omits here) - but I don't think this novel does the real woman any disservice. I can't understand the fuss made by other reviewers, to be honest. Lindsay Jane Ashford explains in the epilogue where fiction deviates from documented fact, and that's exactly what this is - fiction. A really insulting take on Merle's life is the biopic Queenie, based on the biographical novel by Michael Korda. Sheesh!Anyway, I really enjoyed this fictional take on Merle's life and career, from her teenage years in Calcutta to her first break in London, meeting director Alexander Korda, whom she later married, and her chance to make the big time in Hollywood, playing Cathy in Wuthering Heights. She has dalliances with a former American actor Ben Finney, Leslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson, of the Cafe de Paris, David Niven - and dodges Leslie Howard, presumably to condense her love life into 300 pages! The author invents a friendship with fellow actress Flora Robson and a feud with Vivien Leigh, which I thought worked really well, and the chance of a family reunion, which felt a little forced.Recommended for those who enjoy a good story and can tell the difference between fact and fiction.