The Comeback
Ella Berman
Berkley, August 2020
ISBN 978-0-593-09951-3
Hardcover
Teen actress Grace Turner was only fourteen when she was discovered by director Able Yorke. With her parents and younger sister Esme she moves to Los Angeles from England, where she appears in a television series and films. When she is nominated for a Golden Globe for “Lights of Berlin,” she drops out of sight.
The Comeback begins as Grace emerges from her exile. She has been living with her parents, in a nondescript suburban neighborhood, and her sister, who has been suspended from her school for sexting. Her mother was a modestly successful model back in England and now watches the Kardashians on television and swallows diet pills. Grace has been asked to present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Able Yorke, and she has difficulty coming to terms with her feelings for him. He has controlled every aspect of her life for eight years.
Grace rents a house across from Able Yorke, watches his wife and children, and obsesses about what she will say to him when they meet again. There are many echoes of the Harvey Weinstein case woven through this book. In the end, Grace believes there are many ways to get hurt, but you can still fight back. A well-written and disturbing look at how young women are treated in the entertainment industry.
Reviewed by Susan Belsky, January 2021.
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