"Star quality" by Joan Collins

And now, something completely different!

As a teenager I read some novels by Jackie Collins - I clearly remember enjoying her "Hollywood Wives" instead than obligatory school reading at the time - it reminded me on similar gripping work by Harold Robbins and Sidney Sheldon but even than I could tell this was a guilty pleasure, pulp fiction served under different name and created with possibility to make movies out of them. Sweet, old Barbara Cartland was allegedly against this kind of smutty books but Jackie continued to pile them up with greatest success and rode New York Times Best selling lists for decades, writing about "rich and famous" while several of her novels served as inspiration for movies (older sister Joan played in two of them) and TV series. Curiously, I have never seriously continued with Jackie's novels - although they were fast-reading stuff and very entertaining - after one or two I probably had idea what to expect. Mind you, I can't tell Robbins or Sheldon from each other as well. Not that I am against this type of best-sellers, they can be very entertaining if you are in the right frame of mind, its just that usually I would prefer something more substantial.

And now, the novel written by her massively popular, older sister, actress (and official Dame) Joan Collins - whom, like the rest of the world I know from "Dynasty" but was not aware that she also dabbled in writing, besides autobiography and beauty tips book. Although I have tons of books in my virtual library, combing trough collection became a drudge so I rather peek at what's on the ship's library shelf and voilà, this is how I found out about this one.

"Star quality" is extremely easy read, you can finish it in two days - no wonder somebody left it around here, because its a perfect escapism and vacation read. Its actually much better than I expected. Nothing deep or serious, in fact, the novel is deliciously fluffy and superficial - concerned more with description of protagonist's costumes, hair and make up than psychological analysis or motivations - but Collins seems to know what people expect from her and she also know the world she describes: its a century of showbiz, from vaudeville to Broadway, Hollywood and beyond, naturally we end up in 1980s big time TV series. Since it covers the four generations of women in one family, Collins treats the readers with walk trough the century - the novel starts in 1917 and as it progresses, it describes fashions, stars, celebrities and ever-changing morals (at one point, ladies agree that each of them was considered very scandalous for their times). It's not the greatest novel ever written, nor it tries to be - both Collins sisters understood that fame itself sells products and cleverly used theirs for launching successful careers. There is always a huge audience soaking in everything about lives of "rich and famous"  - obviously even myself I couldn't resist to have a peek and enjoyed it as escapism. But can she write?  Yes, she surely can - there is something about her vitality that I always found very endearing and even the fact that novel feels touchingly earnest at times don't diminish the fact that I gulped it instantly, while celebrated classics usually demand far more attention and headache. I have one of them at the back-burner for months now, because it bothered me so much, while this frou-frou I finished without noticing.