Anne Enright
Actress by Anne Enright unfolds in the first-person voice of Norah, the daughter of a brilliant Irish actress, Katherine O’Dell. Norah is visited by a graduate student who is conducting research on her mother. This prompts Norah to embark on a retrospective of her mother’s life, her own life, and their complex mother-daughter relationship.
Norah explores her mother’s early years, her rocket to fame beginning as a stage actress in Ireland, then as a movie star in Hollywood, followed by her gradual decline into mental illness and death. Weaving in and out of her mother’s story, Norah includes her own story and her relationships as she reflects back on her life at the age of 58. She addresses this extended monologue to her husband.
Partially set against the political troubles in Ireland in the 1970s, the novel also illustrates the vulnerabilities of women in the hands of ruthless men who exploit and undermine them. Norah’s sharp eye recounts the past events through the lens of a perceptive middle-aged woman who recognizes misogyny as well as the games actors and directors play to satisfy their monstrous egos.
The narrative is non-linear as Norah’s anecdotal recollections hop backward and forward in time. There is very little plot to speak of in what is a character-driven novel. The unconditional love and support the mother and daughter have for one another shines through their interactions and through Norah’s monologue. They are impeccably drawn as characters. They are flawed, believable, indulgent of one another’s frailties, and protective of one another. Norah’s voice is engaging, fluent, witty, uninhibited, and forgiving of her mother’s shortcomings. She describes the difficulty of having to share her famous mother with strangers, and of having to assume the role of praising the brilliance of each of her performances. She understands her mother and knows when to prod and when to step back if soliciting information about her mother’s past or about the identity of her absent father.
The seemingly haphazard structure of the novel simulates the experience of remembering. Norah remembers her mother in patchy bits and pieces as a person and as a performer. As Norah observes, sometimes her mother’s roles merge as when she behaves in real life according to the expectations placed on her as a famous star.
A subtle and moving portrait of two generations of women told with unflinching honesty in the flawless, engaging, and seemingly effortless prose of Anne Enright.