Star Money

by Kathleen Winsor

Seldom has the nature of modern woman -- lovely, ruthless, and mislet -- been analyzed with more brilliant perception and complete truth. Kathleen Winsor presents a merciles picture of Shireen Delaney -- what she wanted, how she got it, and what it did to her. Here is a novel memorable for its emotional intensity, its outspoken honesty, its incisive characterizations, and above all its magic story-telling skill.

Genres: Fiction

596 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Kathleen Winsor was an American author. She is best known for her first work, the 1944 historical novel Forever Amber. The novel, racy for its time, became a runaway bestseller even as it drew criticism from some authorities for its depictions of sexuality. She wrote seven other novels, none of which matched the success of her debut.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So after reading Forever Amber, I was lucky enough to find this book at my local Goodwill for a quarter. I quickly feel in love. The main character Shirleen is selfish, foolish, and scared. Yet on so many levels, I could relate to those characteristics, and thus Winsor herself. I don't think that Shirleen was by any means a very lovable character. She made numerous mistakes, but who can't relate to that? She came to a level in her life when she had everything she could possibly want, but somehow that wasn't enough. She couldn't come to terms with that, and ended up sabotaging her life and thus love. She just struggled with find fulfilling things in her life. All the 'star money' she had couldn't make her happy, only she could and she couldn't figure out how.
I love Winsor's style. She takes such an honest approach when she writes. Especially in this novel, I felt as if she had put some much of herself in it. So much of experiences and feelings she had gone through with reaching her own fame. She did clearly say that this book was by no means an autobiography, but you can definitely find parts of her in here.
I high recommend if you liked Forever Amber!

[Noor Alhuda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite quote: "I want to live a lot of different lives, not just one. I wish I could have lived forever, in every age and every country, seen everything and done everything and felt everything." p. 193

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating character study of an extremely narcissistic woman forging an independent life for herself (sans husband away at war) during the early 1940’s. Because of Shireen’s preoccupation with herself, she can only maintain relationships for as long as they support her needs. What kept the story interesting was her ability to become self-aware and recognize her destructive behavior. But her brief insights never led to constructive change. Her back and forth pattern of selfishness and self-doubt leaves her miserable and unhappy in the midst of her incredible success. After 450 pages of this repeating pattern, the denouement brought no resolution and was ultimately unsatisfying. Because of this, and because the writing was uneven and begged for better editing, I gave it 3 stars instead of 4.

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. A novel written in 1950, set during WWII, about a woman who is past ready for women's lib and yet is in possession of so much self-doubt and low self-esteem that she is incredibly miserable. Again, interesting.

[Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately entertaining tale of a young lady in wartime America, who writes a big bestseller and enjoys the fame and success that is the result of her book's popularity. Or does she?

Brought up in modest beginnings in California and married to an average but nice guy, she has a desire to achieve more in life and be as different to her mother as she could possibly be.

With the coming of Pearl Harbor, her husband goes to war and she lives a very different existence on the civilian front when fame and success comes to her.

She has many affairs, none that last, finds the promo tours and trappings of selling her book a drag and has, well, more affairs.

She and the men of her life quarrel, make up, quarrel, make up and quarrel again, then make up - this forms a good a part (seemingly) of the book's nearly 500 pages.

They seem to be critical and judgmental of one another.

When her modest husband returns home from war and sees the very different life his wife Shireen is living, it becomes clear that they are now two very different people, and living married life together as they did in earlier, simpler times is going to be difficult to say the least.

The book plays like an old black and white movie a lot of the time, although a movie version of the story would have been more sanitized.

The characters in this old fashioned story would also smoke a lot, they seemed to be lighting up a new cigarette on every page.

Entertaining and readable, with the occasional moments of tedium. It may have gotten one more star if it had been a 100 pages shorter.

[L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

1 1/2 stars

World War II is happening but that's not important. What's important is Shireen Delaney and that everything goes her way. Shireen is the embodiment of Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind. She's married to Ed but he's shipped out to war. She meets Guy #2 and falls in love with him until he's shipped out to war. Then she meets and falls in love with Guy #3 until he's shipped out. She falls in love with Guy #4 but Guy #2 is back in town so Guy #4 is quickly dropped. Shireen falls in love with Guy #5 but Guy #2 is downstairs in the lobby so you've got to leave, Guy #5! Take the backstairs so you two don't run into each other.

Shireen gets all these men to fall in love with her and I never understood why. She's so shallow, childish, selfish and neurotic. Besides a free lay I didn't understand what these men were getting from her. There's other stuff going on but author Kathleen Winsor doesn't spend much time on subjects other than Shireen and what she's wearing.

[Cary Cotterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Star Money" is possibly the best psychological study, from inside a protagonist's mind, that I've ever read. Shireen Delany is a complex, confused, troubled, brilliant, talented, charismatic, hedonistic, sexually alluring, exasperating young woman whose story resembles not only Amber's of "Forever" fame, but that of their creator, Kathleen Winsor. Just as with "Forever Amber", once I started reading "Star Money", it was hard to put the book down. Although this novel, just like "Amber", was dismissed as trash by the critics of its time, it deserves reevaluation as a mid-20th century classic. No book has ever taken me so deeply into another time as this one took me into the attitudes, morals, and psychology of these people in the 1940s. Shireen is one of the most, perhaps the most real person I've ever met in fiction.

[ANGELIA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good story, despite the book being full of bad people, all selfish, self-centered, immoral and avaricious, including the leading lady and her fav lover. The only exception was her husband, who was a real nincompoop until he wised up at the end.

Still, it's entertaining reading, especially those scenes where, after she's slept with yet another man who knows her husband, (not very discreet) the guy inevitably tells her she's wrong to cheat on her hubby, as he's a good man and doesn't deserve that. Funny, how they say this after they've slept with her, how come they didn't think about it before? Too horny, perhaps?

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retro Beach Read
I'm sure this was considered a racy book when it was published in 1950. It was fairly entertaining, but MUCH too long.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book over 20 years ago and I am still thinking about it. I'd say that's a sign of a good book.

[Sherry Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t believe I gave this book a 4 when I despised the main character. She is the most awful person imaginable.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

1942-1945 NYC mostly. Navy wife writes a best selling novel. The book is from her neurotic point of view.

[Stefani Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

....I collect hard copy (ideally leather bound) old books. I stack them up as decor, not really anticipating reading them because I chose them based on their cover:).

Then I thought, lets try to read one, knowing they are from an different time and era it might be amusing. Indeed, Star Money, well written, captivating and intriguing and risque as it must have been for a woman to have written such a book in the 40s. Applause to Kathleen to dare to do so.
Love the ending, Cheers Shireen you did what countless men have done for years and still do to this day e.g. put themselves first.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok