Grace Hyde is a child when she is plucked from obscurity by producer, Able. As Grace Turner, her career grows from strength to strength as Able’s protege. Now older, Grace’s career has plunged and she is back living with her estranged parents. Recovering from a mental breakdown and years of alcohol and drug abuse, Grace has to process events to make her comeback. I found this story gripping from the outset. I would say the chapters are short and punchy, and I felt like they worked well with linking the story together. Grace is a tricky character to get to know, and it took me a while to understand her. I think the author did a good job in depicting Grace as she may appear on the outside: surface-level selfish and troubled. However, the book is reflective, and as the structure shows Grace revisiting past key memories, I think these experiences give her character a greater depth. There are dark moments, with graphic depictions of sexual abuse in places, so will not be appropriate or appealing for all readers. I think Ella Berman writes well to include enough detail of Grace’s story without going too far. Whilst the abuse is pivotal to her story, I wouldn’t say the abuse overloads the narrative, so if readers are curious, I hope it wouldn’t put them off. Overall, I feel Grace is a vulnerable and fragile character. I felt more sympathy for her as the picture of her experiences builds. I also really liked the softer elements of the book, especially in aspects of her relationships with Emilia, Laurel, Dylan and Esme. I was a fan of Berman’s last novel Before We Were Innocent and think this book also has that glamorous-turned-gritty element to it. I would recommend for fans of the author’s previous work and those who want a dark and gripping drama.

When I first read the blurb of this book, I requested it straight away and I’m so glad that I did. This is a story of a woman claiming back her life after experiencing sexual assault and emotional abuse from someone who was supposed to protect her. I found grace’s character to be a strong representation of the #MeToo movement and it was so eye opening to see the struggle she faces throughout the book. She is courageous and a brilliantly written character.

This is another brutal book that does not hold its punches. It is based around Grace Turner, a former child actress who, at the height of her glittering adult career, on the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, disappears... I say disappears, she actually runs away home. To her parents, for a year. Until they start to gently (?) encourage her to go back. Which eventually she does. But this time, she's sober and her eyes are more open. And then she is asked to present an award to Able Yorke a director who has pretty much controlled her entire life. But as the action continues in the present, we also witness her origin story. How she was plucked from obscurity, how she and her family travelled to the States in order for her to work on a film. Oh the glamour, the glitz... or actually, not. There's a dark side to things. A very dark side... Yes, OK so there is an element of #metoo in all of this. But it is actually so much more than that. It's about power and control, about a strong influential person can basically manipulate a young innocent girl. It's about choosing the wrong people to trust and letting the good ones go. But it's also about the fightback... and, a kinda coming of age... Boy was this a brutal, hard hitting read. It opened my eyes about a few things , especially some misconceptions I might have had about certain personality types. I'd love to wax lyrical more but, spoilers... It's is quite dark and depressing, but there is always that glimmer of hope, bubbling under the surface. It's very character driven and the character's are brilliantly drawn and all hold their own within the story being told. Grace is all things wonderful as a character. Naive, vulnerable, lonely, but also quite smart and determined... By the end of the book I was actually feeling quite sad that I would soon have to be saying goodbye to her.

“Maybe their turn for winning is over, Grace. Maybe it's our turn now.” An empowering, courageous and thought-provoking story that reveals the darkness that lurks beneath the glamour and glitz of Hollywood, The Comeback is a story that demands to be read. The story is told by Grace, a young Hollywood starlet who was on the cusp of making the A-List when she suddenly disappeared. Now, after a year of isolation at her parents’ home in Anaheim, Grace has returned to L.A. and is slowly rebuilding her life on her own terms.  From the start there’s a sense of a secret hidden under the surface. A secret she doesn’t want to face. But she may not have a choice because just as she’s getting her life back on track she is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to her director Able Yorke. It seems perfect: the young actress honouring the man who discovered her and then mentored her for eight years. Suddenly Grace’s past demons are refusing to stay hidden and she must finally confront the things she’s been running from for so long.  The #MeToo movement highlighting Hollywood’s culture of sexual abuse and rape is now well known, but this story was originally conceived a few months before it in early 2017 and published in the US in 2020. Since then we have heard countless stories of the horrendous abuse actors and actresses were subjected to by those in authority, including the recent documentary ‘Quiet on Set’ which focused on the terrible treatment of Hollywood’s child stars. Grace’s story of coercive control, isolation, fear, and abuse, parallels many of the stories we are now familiar with. But that doesn’t make it any less potent or heartrending. With beautiful, bleak and bold writing, Ella Berman has crafted an achingly authentic story that gets under your skin, exposing the steep price many have had to pay for fame and fortune while making us look at Hollywood and celebrity gossip through a new lens. “The most vicious demons have always been my own, and I've never learned how to protect myself from them. I have tried to move quietly through the world, figuring that if I could just forget what happened, then I could move on, but maybe it doesn't work like that.” This story wouldn’t work without a well written central character and Bermann has got the ‘everyday girl plucked from obscurity’ down to a tee.  Fractured, flawed, vulnerable, and real, she is haunted by the trauma she’s been subjected to for eight years while everyone has told her how lucky she is. Her actions aren’t always right, but they are understandable, particularly as she confronts what she’s been through after burying it deep inside for so long. The other characters are equally as well-written and compelling and I liked how Berman illustrates the dysfunctional and transactional nature of the relationships in Grace’s life, highlighting the difficulty of maintaining healthy relationships when you work in Hollywood, and the problems that arise when trying to support someone through hardships such as addiction, trauma, and mental health issues.  The other character who is vital to get right is the villain of the story and I felt like Berman skillfully captured Able York. Able is charismatic, charming, seductive, shrewd, and cunning. This man gave me chills. He cleverly calculates his moves and is a total slimeball underneath the ‘nice guy’ persona he portrays. He knows just how to isolate and intimidate his victims and you can understand how Grace fell for his act, especially when so young and naive.  Melancholy, consuming, brutal and vivid, The Comeback is a timely story of bravery, strength, and the power of finding your voice. Highly recommended.

The Comeback by Ella Berman Although this is Berman's debut, it is only being published now in Ireland and the UK, following last year's Before We Were Innocent, which I really liked. This is a slow burn character driven story of a young woman who has been the victim of a Weinsteinesque Hollywood film director. A year ago she disappeared on the day before her first Golden Globe nomination, upending her teen star career, and the story opens with her coming to terms with her new lower status in LA hierarchy. Slowly, through reflective first person narrative we learn how Able Yorke plucked her from obscurity and moulded her into the most exciting starlet of her time, but we also begin to understand the power dynamics that were inherent in the movie business before the #metoo movement blew the walls down. I couldn't help thinking about Britney Spears' recent memoir throughout, about how easy is can be for young women who are hungry for fame to be so vulnerable to the coercive control of manipulative men who ultimately commodify them and exploit them in every way possible. Berman really drills into the way the social system of this ( to the rest of us) bizarre industry is completely geared up for these power players to always win and their pawns, their prey, to become so ensconced in the trap that there is no way out. Who would ever believe the word of a "drug addled", "mental case" over a pillar of the community? An uncomfortable, yet redemptive story of a young woman who's rage finds a voice at just the right time. Publication date:11th April 2024