Platinum blonde hair. Striking red lipstick. Admirable hourglass-shaped body. Sweetly charming smile. We have all seen her, the actress and renowned sex-symbol, on numerous posters, t-shirts, cards, cups and what else the booming merchandise industry around the arguably most iconic Hollywood starlet has to offer - in Palm Springs there is even a 26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe statue on display outside of the local art museum, granting visitors a direct look at her panties underneath the famous white billowing Seven Year Itch dress. But what is the story behind the carefully constructed image? With Blonde Joyce Carol Oates has crafted a possible version of a life beyond the cinematic screen and camera flashes, an open window to the inner emotions and desires of Norma Jean Baker – as was her actual name – who allegedly remained a partial mystery even to those closest to her. Oates´ moving and thoughtfully written novel is inspired by and does reference various real people and events that impacted Norma Jean´s life, while dipping the facts in the pool of the authors imagination – thus resulting in an intriguing example of a fictionalized biography. By the end of the final page, you might not be prepared to give an academically correct presentation on the person of Norma Jean Baker, but you certainly will be convinced to know her, to have become privy to the essence of who she was: a foster child, a longing daughter, a pin-up girl, a wife, a divorcee, a movie star, a lover, a hard worker, a sexual fantasy, an addict, an almost-mother, a humorous, knowledgeable, generous and troubled woman – soon to be embodied by Cuban Bond girl Ana de Armas in the upcoming Netflix adaptation.
Genre: historical fiction
First published: 2000
Pages: 738
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