The Stand-In

by Deborah Moggach

An unknown English actress named Jules becomes the understudy to legendary film star Lila Dune, whose fabulous success does not prevent her from stealing Jules's lover, an action that releases all of Jules's pent-up jealousy and rage. Reprint. LJ. PW.

Genres: Fiction

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Deborah Moggach is a British writer, born Deborah Hough on 28 June 1948. She has written fifteen novels to date, including The Ex-Wives, Tulip Fever, and, most recently, These Foolish Things. She has adapted many of her novels as TV dramas and has also written several film scripts, including the BAFTA-nominated screenplay for Pride & Prejudice. She has also written two collections of short stories and a stage play. In February 2005, Moggach was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by her Alma Mater, the University of Bristol . She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a former Chair of the Society of Authors, and is on the executive committee of PEN.

Reviews

[Anni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am having a Deborah Moggach binge at present, catching up on some of her early novels I somehow missed.

Although this one was published 14 years ago, it is still highly relevant, perhaps even more so in today’s celebrity media and social networking culture. It is however, quite an unexpected departure in genre from her other work, with a dark psychological aspect reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith’s writing.

At 422 pages, it is a long novel for this author, but I felt the drawn-out narrative was justified in order to fully explore the narrator’s psyche. This compelling version of the hell that ‘hath no fury like a woman scorned’ is a clever study of the schizophrenic nature of acting. Set in the movie worlds of New York and Los Angeles, Moggach’s cinematic writing style makes for a totally immersive experience in a sphere with which she is obviously well acquainted, having had her novels filmed for TV and the big screen.

... and now for my next fix - 'Final Demand'.

[Val Asker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in a charity shop (two books for £1! how could I resist?) I have read ‘Tulip Fever’ and thought it would be interesting to read something else by the same author.

‘The Stand-In’ is set in London, New York and Los Angeles in the late 80s/early 90s. Jules is an aspiring actress living in London looking for a big break with an unreliable but charming boyfriend, Trevor, whom she adores. Lila Dune is a famous American movie star who is filming close to where Jules is working with a theatre company. When Lila’s stand in for the film becomes unavailable, Jules secures the job, as she is of similar build and bears a passing resemblance to Lila. Gradually she gets to know Lila and is asked to work as her stand in on her next film in New York which takes Jules away from Trev. The two women grow closer and it gradually becomes apparent that Jules has developed an unhealthy and dangerous obsession with Lila. Also Trev is not answering her ‘phone calls ....

This was definitely an enjoyable read, mainly because I wanted to know just how far Jules would go. At the beginning of the book she seems quite rational and it was very interesting to realise that she was actually mentally unbalanced. The book is written from Jules’ perspective so the reader is only getting her side of the story - and she doesn’t see that what she is doing isn’t right. By the end of the book she has become paranoid, thinking that everyone is looking at her from the people walking down the street to the presenter on her TV screen.

Towards the end of the book when Jules confronts Trev, the reader is able to hear what Trev thinks of Jules. This was I thought one of the best parts of the book as it makes the reader realise that the world according to Jules is not the world as others see it.

I also enjoyed the setting, particularly New York which I visited several times in the late 80s. The book was published in 1991 and I’m sure the author must’ve spent time there as it seemed a very accurate portrayal of the city seen from the perspective of an outsider.

Despite Jules’ self-obsession which made the book quite dark, there were some lighter moments. One of the projects that Jules and Lila work on is a reworking of Jane Eyre. There is a very funny description of how the story was modernised by a succession of screenwriters who try and fail to get the project off the ground. It starts life as a dance movie, following the success of ‘Flashdance’, then there is a version where Jane is black and the daughter of a cotton picker on a plantation in Virginia. This was a very good overview of the film industry trying to piggyback onto the latest popular genre. Also as someone who grew up in Essex, I loved the name of the antiques shop ‘Look back in Ongar’.

I did find that the end of the book was too drawn out. Partly I think this is because Jules as the narrator thinks the reader (her audience) is so interested in her that they want to know every single detail. However I did think the plot was clever and the way that Jules was finally caught was well thought out.

All in all an enjoyable page turner.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done but too long drawn out, given that it is obvious from what the narrator tells us that it's all going to end very badly..

[Lisa van Zyl-Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but truly unpleasant. Did not enjoy this book at all.

[Jayne Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Deborah Moggach's best IMHO...a great tale of life on a film-set, some excellent quirky characters (loved the continuity girl) and a highly believable portrait of an 'over-ripe' film star who has to have a personal trainer to come round and 'bully her onto her bike'. This story brought Moggach's already high standard of writing to a new level of expressiveness and poetry. Highly recommended.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK story but took me a while to get through it...dragged even though writing was good

[Azur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good up to a certain point (when it becomes clear what will happen), then it drags along. You could shorten the second half by 2/3 without missing anything important.

[Claire Moreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult read and finally got to the good stuff by the last 3rd of the book. Isn't one that I would recommend for someone just looking for a quick and easy read.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on holiday in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

[Janet Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to read it again.

[Sam Forster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, the characters of Lila and Julia are interesting in their similarities as well as their differences and you get a good in depth feeling about both of their characters, not so much about Trev and what motivated him quite as much, not that it detracted from the story too much. The dehumanising effect of fame and the lack of it are repeating themes throughout and it was fascinating to see how it has two equally damaging sides to it, coming at a price which people cannot appreciate until it happens to them or they come close enough to see others encountering it.

The one thing I didn't like was how the narrator often spoke about things in the past tense, along the lines of 'if I had only done x differently'. At times it detracted from the suspense in the story as you pretty much knew from these clues that a happy ending wasn't likely. I wouldn't have expected foreshadowing like that from a writer as competent as Deborah Moggach, it also

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

British stand-in for an American movie star gets all obsessive and stalky. Pretty good suspense novel.