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A review by readingonfordearlife
All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani
2.0
All the Stars in the Heavens is a dramatic saga set during the 1930s in Hollywood, and is based on the true life love affair of starlet Loretta Young and movie star Clark Gable. Interwoven in this tale is also the story of Alda Ducci, who is forced to leave a convent before taking her vows as a nun, and winds up working as Loretta's secretary. The book is epic in scope, spanning from before Loretta and Clark work together on The Call of the Wild and stretching to both their deaths, decades later.
I so wanted to enjoy this novel. I have always been mesmerized with the classic movies and the actors and actresses from Hollywood's golden age. The story is a great premise for a romantic historical fiction plot. Trigiani's attempt fell short of the mark, in my eyes. I have not read this author before, but as a first time reader of her work, I would not describe her as a "masterful storyteller," as the book jacket does. The pace of the novel was plodding and the writing felt scattered, as if the author were trying to fit too many ideas about Hollywood and movies and art and life into its pages. Trigiani also attempted to vary perspectives, and did not do so well in this book. Though the whole book was written in 3rd person omniscient, the author jumped from one character's thoughts to the next quickly at times, and the result was a lack of true depth for most of the characters. I found most of the book to be rather boring, except for when Loretta and Clark began filming their first movie together and the love affair began. Otherwise, the story moved very slowly. I think the book could have been shortened by about 150 pages, and that Trigiani could have included important later events in an epilogue. There are other larger-than-life movie actors that appear as characters, but most of them do not enhance the storyline--it often felt that Trigiani was simply name-dropping to catch the reader's attention.
All in all, unless you are a Gable or Young enthusiast, I would probably skip this one and just watch some of their movies instead.
I so wanted to enjoy this novel. I have always been mesmerized with the classic movies and the actors and actresses from Hollywood's golden age. The story is a great premise for a romantic historical fiction plot. Trigiani's attempt fell short of the mark, in my eyes. I have not read this author before, but as a first time reader of her work, I would not describe her as a "masterful storyteller," as the book jacket does. The pace of the novel was plodding and the writing felt scattered, as if the author were trying to fit too many ideas about Hollywood and movies and art and life into its pages. Trigiani also attempted to vary perspectives, and did not do so well in this book. Though the whole book was written in 3rd person omniscient, the author jumped from one character's thoughts to the next quickly at times, and the result was a lack of true depth for most of the characters. I found most of the book to be rather boring, except for when Loretta and Clark began filming their first movie together and the love affair began. Otherwise, the story moved very slowly. I think the book could have been shortened by about 150 pages, and that Trigiani could have included important later events in an epilogue. There are other larger-than-life movie actors that appear as characters, but most of them do not enhance the storyline--it often felt that Trigiani was simply name-dropping to catch the reader's attention.
All in all, unless you are a Gable or Young enthusiast, I would probably skip this one and just watch some of their movies instead.