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Not Without You
HOW CAN THE WHOLE WORLD KNOW YOU WHEN YOU HARDLY KNOW YOURSELF?
Sophie Leigh’s real name is Sophie Sykes. But she hasn’t been called that for years, not since she became an A-list movie star. Living in Los Angeles, she can forget all about the life she left behind in England. But she's lost something of herself in the process, too.
Glamorous 1950s starlet Eve Noel had none of Sophie's modern self-confidence. She didn’t choose her name. A Hollywood producer did. In fact, he made all her decisions - what to wear, when to smile, who to love. Right up until the day she simply vanished from the spotlight. No one knows where she went, or why.
As Sophie’s perfect-on-the-outside world begins to crumble, her present collides with Eve's past, She must unravel the mystery around her idol's disappearance before it's too late for them both.
Sophie Leigh’s real name is Sophie Sykes. But she hasn’t been called that for years, not since she became an A-list movie star. Living in Los Angeles, she can forget all about the life she left behind in England. But she's lost something of herself in the process, too.
Glamorous 1950s starlet Eve Noel had none of Sophie's modern self-confidence. She didn’t choose her name. A Hollywood producer did. In fact, he made all her decisions - what to wear, when to smile, who to love. Right up until the day she simply vanished from the spotlight. No one knows where she went, or why.
As Sophie’s perfect-on-the-outside world begins to crumble, her present collides with Eve's past, She must unravel the mystery around her idol's disappearance before it's too late for them both.
429 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
53 people are currently reading
2115 people want to read
About the author
Harriet Evans
109 books1,203 followersI was born in London and grew up there. I was very bookish, and had a huge imagination which used to cause me to get rather anxious at times. Now I know it's a good thing for a writer to have. I loved musicals, and playing imaginative games, and my Barbie perfume making kit. Most of all I loved reading. I read everything, but I also read lots of things over and over, which I think is so important.
At university I read Classical Studies, which is a great way of finding out that the world doesn't change much and people make the same mistakes but it's interesting to look at why. I was at Bristol, and i loved the city, making new friends, being a new person.
After university I came back to London and got a job in publishing. I loved working in publishing so much, and really felt for the first time in my life that when I spoke people understood what I was saying. Book people are good people. I became an editor after a few years, working with many bestselling novelists, and in 2009 I left to write full time.
I've written 13 novels and several short stories and one Quick Read, which is an excellent way of getting people into reading more. I've acquired a partner and two children along the way.
In 2019 we moved to Bath, out of London, and I am very happy there. We live opposite a hedgerow, and I can be boring about gardening, and there's room for my collection of jumpsuits and all our books. We have lots of books. Apart from anything else they keep the house warm. xxx
At university I read Classical Studies, which is a great way of finding out that the world doesn't change much and people make the same mistakes but it's interesting to look at why. I was at Bristol, and i loved the city, making new friends, being a new person.
After university I came back to London and got a job in publishing. I loved working in publishing so much, and really felt for the first time in my life that when I spoke people understood what I was saying. Book people are good people. I became an editor after a few years, working with many bestselling novelists, and in 2009 I left to write full time.
I've written 13 novels and several short stories and one Quick Read, which is an excellent way of getting people into reading more. I've acquired a partner and two children along the way.
In 2019 we moved to Bath, out of London, and I am very happy there. We live opposite a hedgerow, and I can be boring about gardening, and there's room for my collection of jumpsuits and all our books. We have lots of books. Apart from anything else they keep the house warm. xxx
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
March 9, 2014
2.5 Stars
The idea of this book is really very interesting. I love the back and forth between modern day Sophie and 1950's starlet Eve. I became more and more engrossed in Eve's story and wanting to know what happened to her. As far as Sophie I liked that she didn't want to be typecast and had to fight for the direction of her career. Where the book lost me were the silly storylines that really didn't add anything to the plot. Sophie and the stalker direction just didn't make sense....it added nothing useful to the plot. Sophie sleeping with one of her directors again took away from the plot & cheapened Sophie's character and the story. The bulk of the book was really good I just wish the writer would have left out some of the silly plotlines and concentrated more on Eve's story. Take away those storylines and the book was really good which for me is what made it 3 stars rather then 2.
The idea of this book is really very interesting. I love the back and forth between modern day Sophie and 1950's starlet Eve. I became more and more engrossed in Eve's story and wanting to know what happened to her. As far as Sophie I liked that she didn't want to be typecast and had to fight for the direction of her career. Where the book lost me were the silly storylines that really didn't add anything to the plot. Sophie and the stalker direction just didn't make sense....it added nothing useful to the plot. Sophie sleeping with one of her directors again took away from the plot & cheapened Sophie's character and the story. The bulk of the book was really good I just wish the writer would have left out some of the silly plotlines and concentrated more on Eve's story. Take away those storylines and the book was really good which for me is what made it 3 stars rather then 2.
February 17, 2025
1⭐️ = Not For Me.
Hardback.
Sadly, there wasn’t anything that I really enjoyed about this. I read it because a relative lent it to me and not because I chose it.
The language, for me, was immature and didn’t feel right for my age bracket. I felt my eyes rolling towards the ceiling.
Hardback.
Sadly, there wasn’t anything that I really enjoyed about this. I read it because a relative lent it to me and not because I chose it.
The language, for me, was immature and didn’t feel right for my age bracket. I felt my eyes rolling towards the ceiling.
October 14, 2014
“….Hollywood is about extremes, as someone once said. You’re either a success or a failure, there’s no in-between”.
In the 1950’s twenty year old Eve Noel goes from England to California to seek fame and fortune.
In the current day, thirty year old Sophie Leigh has gone from England to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune.
- both women will find themselves sucked in and chewed up by the vicious film industry.
We first meet Eve, when she is 6 years old and playing with her older sister Rose in their English garden but then Rose accidentally drowns and Eve’s life will never be the same again. It is then the 1950’s and Eve is 20 years old when she makes her way to California to find stardom and fame and she really is an innocent abroad. In the days when young starlets were chaperoned to parties to meet the film producers who would decide their fate, the Hollywood machine wastes no time in getting its claws into people like Eve. Lecherous studio bosses and their spies do their very best to make young girls like Eve jump through hoops to keep their career not caring what the consequences may be.
Sophie Leigh (actually Sophie Sykes) is nearly 30. She too has gone from England to America to be a film star. We are now in the present day and really things don’t seem to have changed much. The studios don’t seem to have quite so much control over their star’s lives although they can still make and break careers with dirty tricks and the wrong word here and there.
Sophie has made her name playing ditzy characters in rom-coms. However, with her career on the downward slide, she now wants to do more than act in the third rate film scripts that come her way. She is also obsessed with the 1950’s actress Eve Noel, and even lives in Eve’s old Hollywood house. Sophie’s dream is to make a film about Eve’s life…and have Eve Noel appear in it. However no-one knows what has happened to Eve. In 1961, she suddenly disappeared and has never been heard of again.
This book turned out to be a much deeper and darker read than I was expecting. We see through Sophie’s eyes how fickle fame and fortune is and what happens when your fans…and indeed, people you thought were friends, turn against you. It seemed to me that a lot of research had gone into the book, especially in the lifestyle and practices of the moviemakers and the film studios of decades ago and this gave an extra element to the story.
The story travels back and forth from the US to the English countryside, and you get a real feeling for location. The characters are well written, some are likeable and others definitely not, however they each pull you in to the story. Sophie as the main character, was interesting enough to carry the story, however I found myself drawn to Eve and her life and for me she was the real star of the book.
There is a sub plot involving Sophie which led to a dramatic scene which I really was not expecting, and this change of tone makes the book different from previous books that I’ve read by Harriet Evans.
It’s difficult to say any more without giving the plot away but I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it if you’re looking for a read with a little more substance.
Finally, I just have to say that I adored the gorgeous cover of this book and whoever designed it should take a bow.
My thanks to the publisher, HarperCollins for the copy to review.
In the 1950’s twenty year old Eve Noel goes from England to California to seek fame and fortune.
In the current day, thirty year old Sophie Leigh has gone from England to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune.
- both women will find themselves sucked in and chewed up by the vicious film industry.
We first meet Eve, when she is 6 years old and playing with her older sister Rose in their English garden but then Rose accidentally drowns and Eve’s life will never be the same again. It is then the 1950’s and Eve is 20 years old when she makes her way to California to find stardom and fame and she really is an innocent abroad. In the days when young starlets were chaperoned to parties to meet the film producers who would decide their fate, the Hollywood machine wastes no time in getting its claws into people like Eve. Lecherous studio bosses and their spies do their very best to make young girls like Eve jump through hoops to keep their career not caring what the consequences may be.
Sophie Leigh (actually Sophie Sykes) is nearly 30. She too has gone from England to America to be a film star. We are now in the present day and really things don’t seem to have changed much. The studios don’t seem to have quite so much control over their star’s lives although they can still make and break careers with dirty tricks and the wrong word here and there.
Sophie has made her name playing ditzy characters in rom-coms. However, with her career on the downward slide, she now wants to do more than act in the third rate film scripts that come her way. She is also obsessed with the 1950’s actress Eve Noel, and even lives in Eve’s old Hollywood house. Sophie’s dream is to make a film about Eve’s life…and have Eve Noel appear in it. However no-one knows what has happened to Eve. In 1961, she suddenly disappeared and has never been heard of again.
This book turned out to be a much deeper and darker read than I was expecting. We see through Sophie’s eyes how fickle fame and fortune is and what happens when your fans…and indeed, people you thought were friends, turn against you. It seemed to me that a lot of research had gone into the book, especially in the lifestyle and practices of the moviemakers and the film studios of decades ago and this gave an extra element to the story.
The story travels back and forth from the US to the English countryside, and you get a real feeling for location. The characters are well written, some are likeable and others definitely not, however they each pull you in to the story. Sophie as the main character, was interesting enough to carry the story, however I found myself drawn to Eve and her life and for me she was the real star of the book.
There is a sub plot involving Sophie which led to a dramatic scene which I really was not expecting, and this change of tone makes the book different from previous books that I’ve read by Harriet Evans.
It’s difficult to say any more without giving the plot away but I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it if you’re looking for a read with a little more substance.
Finally, I just have to say that I adored the gorgeous cover of this book and whoever designed it should take a bow.
My thanks to the publisher, HarperCollins for the copy to review.
January 24, 2014
“Not Without You” by Harriet Evans, published by Gallery Books.
Category – Fiction/Literature Publication Date – February 11, 2014
For those readers who like their romance mixed in with the Hollywood of yesterday and today this will be an excellent read.
Sophie Leigh is a modern movie star that is at the top of her game. She has had hit movie after hit movie but finds that her life does not belong to her but to her agents, directors, and producers.
Eve Noel was a movie star but that was fifty years ago. She too was at the top of her game when she mysteriously disappeared.
Sophie and Eve’s lives collide when Sophie, who adores Eve’s movies, tries to find Eve. Eve holds secrets that involve her sister and a screen writer that she fell in love with and has lost.
The story explores the Hollywood of the 1950’s and compares it to what it is today. Sophie not only finds that she does not have a life of her own but she is treated not as a human being but a commodity. She sees that her sexual escapades and other questionable activities were of little value. This all comes into play when she discovers that someone may be trying to kill her. Sophie’s life turns around when she discovers Eve and learns of her life and why she disappeared. The question remains are Sophie and Eve too late to make a pivotal life change.
I found the book interesting in many aspects but a little long and tedious. However, those who are into the Hollywood scene will be rewarded with an inside look of the lives of those connected to the movie industry.
Category – Fiction/Literature Publication Date – February 11, 2014
For those readers who like their romance mixed in with the Hollywood of yesterday and today this will be an excellent read.
Sophie Leigh is a modern movie star that is at the top of her game. She has had hit movie after hit movie but finds that her life does not belong to her but to her agents, directors, and producers.
Eve Noel was a movie star but that was fifty years ago. She too was at the top of her game when she mysteriously disappeared.
Sophie and Eve’s lives collide when Sophie, who adores Eve’s movies, tries to find Eve. Eve holds secrets that involve her sister and a screen writer that she fell in love with and has lost.
The story explores the Hollywood of the 1950’s and compares it to what it is today. Sophie not only finds that she does not have a life of her own but she is treated not as a human being but a commodity. She sees that her sexual escapades and other questionable activities were of little value. This all comes into play when she discovers that someone may be trying to kill her. Sophie’s life turns around when she discovers Eve and learns of her life and why she disappeared. The question remains are Sophie and Eve too late to make a pivotal life change.
I found the book interesting in many aspects but a little long and tedious. However, those who are into the Hollywood scene will be rewarded with an inside look of the lives of those connected to the movie industry.
August 2, 2022
Can even begin to explain how utterly I adored this book.. all I can say to you, is to READ IT! It has everything; I felt every emotion going through it. Just beautiful.
February 10, 2015
I'm a little bit angry with this book. It started off with so much promise. I was getting into it, and even though it was obvious from the beginning that it wasn't going to be a particularly deep book, I was looking forward to a light and entertaining read.
It's too bad I didn't get it. Not Without You is a book that quickly plunges into a variety of absurd and annoying plot devices that annoy you. I hated every moment of Eve's story, which is too bad, because the back cover of the book made me think that it was going to be the most interesting part. I hated the voice that the author chose to give Eve. I think it was what the author imagined someone from the 1950s would sound like, but not at all like any real person, from the 50s or today, would actually sound like. I don't like or care about the Eve/Don Matthews love story, and I found it absurd and over the top that Don would profess his love to Eve after having seen her 3 times. With her reciprocating but regrettably rejecting him. Gross. I don't mind a little romance, but I need at least a tiny bit of realism. The rest of the Eve story arc is disjointed and seems like it was created for the convenience of the story line.
Let's set Eve aside for now and take a look at the main narrator. Sophie Leigh is a big shot actress in Hollywood, but her entire story is supposed to make us feel bad for the stuff she has to put up with and the lack of control she has over her own life. Except I don't feel sorry for her. I feel like she has complete control and is self-sabotaging. Sophie complains about being lonely and having no friends, but she also only goes to one party in the entire book, and bails almost immediately. Somehow, I feel that if she made more effort to actually socialize, she might make some friends. We also learn that Sophie is sleeping with a director, but it's just casual. Still, she's letting him video tape the sex, and she thinks to herself how she's not like those other actresses with their leaked sex tapes. What?! The worst part is, throughout the entire book, we're told how smart Sophie is. People always comment on how they like her, and how she could do so much more than just act. But this is a very bad case of telling, not showing. "Smart" Sophie lets a director she's casually having sex with videotape her without considering the consequences, and she confronts a stalker head on instead of calling the police. That is not smart behaviour at all.
But the videotape is not even a big deal, because the book is ridiculous about leaving loose ends lying around. At first, the videotaping seems like it would be a major plot point in the book, with the evil director threatening to release it, but after Sophie goes to England, we basically never hear about it again. Ditto goes for Sophie's friend Donna, who Sophie initially mentions wistfully, and then immediately forgets about it until she happens to be in England. Given all the talking about Donna in the first chapter, I thought she would feature more prominently in the book. I understand Donna's purpose, as a symbol of Sophie's lost friendships, but I also think that could have been handled more subtly.
Not that anything was subtle about the book. One of the last things I will touch on that pissed me off (and there were many, including the scene where Sophie and Alec have a conversation in Anne Hathaway's cottage just to establish that they are friends without moving the plot forward at all...seriously, the author should have been able show that better) was Sophie's interactions with Eve and Rose. Everything about those conversations was horrible. I don't even really know how to describe it, aside from "real people just DON'T talk like that!" Basically everything Rose said was expositional and convenient, and then Eve handed over a packet of letters from Don, revealing everything Sophie didn't already know, in under 5 minutes? Not to mention that Eve suddenly came out of her shell after a five minute conversation with Sophie enough to come forward to the police AND make a movie? And all the jazz about her memory loss, which I feel was badly portrayed. The author seemed to feel that "memory loss" could be accurately shown just by having Eve say every five minutes "I have terrible memory" or "my memory is fuzzy." I guess it's another case of telling rather than showing.
Alright, I've rambled for long enough, and if you've made it this far, I'm impressed. I would not really recommend this book. It was frustrating and left a bad taste in my mouth when I was done. I like reading light, easy material every once in a while, but this book lacked even basic plot coherence and decent dialogue. There is definitely better light/romance fiction out there, so try something else instead!
It's too bad I didn't get it. Not Without You is a book that quickly plunges into a variety of absurd and annoying plot devices that annoy you. I hated every moment of Eve's story, which is too bad, because the back cover of the book made me think that it was going to be the most interesting part. I hated the voice that the author chose to give Eve. I think it was what the author imagined someone from the 1950s would sound like, but not at all like any real person, from the 50s or today, would actually sound like. I don't like or care about the Eve/Don Matthews love story, and I found it absurd and over the top that Don would profess his love to Eve after having seen her 3 times. With her reciprocating but regrettably rejecting him. Gross. I don't mind a little romance, but I need at least a tiny bit of realism. The rest of the Eve story arc is disjointed and seems like it was created for the convenience of the story line.
Let's set Eve aside for now and take a look at the main narrator. Sophie Leigh is a big shot actress in Hollywood, but her entire story is supposed to make us feel bad for the stuff she has to put up with and the lack of control she has over her own life. Except I don't feel sorry for her. I feel like she has complete control and is self-sabotaging. Sophie complains about being lonely and having no friends, but she also only goes to one party in the entire book, and bails almost immediately. Somehow, I feel that if she made more effort to actually socialize, she might make some friends. We also learn that Sophie is sleeping with a director, but it's just casual. Still, she's letting him video tape the sex, and she thinks to herself how she's not like those other actresses with their leaked sex tapes. What?! The worst part is, throughout the entire book, we're told how smart Sophie is. People always comment on how they like her, and how she could do so much more than just act. But this is a very bad case of telling, not showing. "Smart" Sophie lets a director she's casually having sex with videotape her without considering the consequences, and she confronts a stalker head on instead of calling the police. That is not smart behaviour at all.
But the videotape is not even a big deal, because the book is ridiculous about leaving loose ends lying around. At first, the videotaping seems like it would be a major plot point in the book, with the evil director threatening to release it, but after Sophie goes to England, we basically never hear about it again. Ditto goes for Sophie's friend Donna, who Sophie initially mentions wistfully, and then immediately forgets about it until she happens to be in England. Given all the talking about Donna in the first chapter, I thought she would feature more prominently in the book. I understand Donna's purpose, as a symbol of Sophie's lost friendships, but I also think that could have been handled more subtly.
Not that anything was subtle about the book. One of the last things I will touch on that pissed me off (and there were many, including the scene where Sophie and Alec have a conversation in Anne Hathaway's cottage just to establish that they are friends without moving the plot forward at all...seriously, the author should have been able show that better) was Sophie's interactions with Eve and Rose. Everything about those conversations was horrible. I don't even really know how to describe it, aside from "real people just DON'T talk like that!" Basically everything Rose said was expositional and convenient, and then Eve handed over a packet of letters from Don, revealing everything Sophie didn't already know, in under 5 minutes? Not to mention that Eve suddenly came out of her shell after a five minute conversation with Sophie enough to come forward to the police AND make a movie? And all the jazz about her memory loss, which I feel was badly portrayed. The author seemed to feel that "memory loss" could be accurately shown just by having Eve say every five minutes "I have terrible memory" or "my memory is fuzzy." I guess it's another case of telling rather than showing.
Alright, I've rambled for long enough, and if you've made it this far, I'm impressed. I would not really recommend this book. It was frustrating and left a bad taste in my mouth when I was done. I like reading light, easy material every once in a while, but this book lacked even basic plot coherence and decent dialogue. There is definitely better light/romance fiction out there, so try something else instead!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2014
Not really sure how I felt about this book; it was well written and had some really interesting insights into the Hollywood film world of the 1950's and the fight for aspiring actresses to 'make it' in the industry but I found at times the story line seemed to loose it's way with random sub plots like the stalker which really didn't seem to slot in with the story line. Loved the book cover and would have been attracted to the book because of it.
This a story written from the point of view of two people, one in the past Eve Noel in the 1950's Hollywood, and one in the present Sophie Leigh, both actresses who travel from England to USA to become stars. I liked the story being revealed in parallel so that the reader seemed to unravel things at the same time as the characters but I felt distracted by what I considered to be unnecessary sub plots like the stalker. Eve Noel was a famous actress who at the height of her career suddenly disappears; years later Sophie Leigh (who is a huge fan of Eve's) moves into Eve's old house and while pursuing her own acting career is determined to find out what happened to Eve and hopefully when she finds her she wants to bring her back to the movies.
Of the two characters I wanted to learn more about Eve and felt that Harriet Evans connected better with this character than she did with Sophie Leigh. Eve was more interesting, intriguing and fascinating and believable than Sophie, I felt that Sophie's character was only there as a secondary storyteller rather than having a real purpose and story of her own, and that Sophie's life and experiences lacked credibility on many levels.
It was a shame that Harriet Evans didn't succeed in making both the characters as believable as each other, Sophie sleeping with her director just seemed to make her look cheap and didn't add anything to the story and in fact highlighted for me the differences between these two actresses rather than the similarities - Eve had fewer choices and was naive in an industry that was both artificial and corrupt, whereas Sophie I felt was more in control and should have been more worldly. I did like the way the book alternated between the past and the future stories but it did get confusing at times trying to work out whether it was Sophie or Eve telling their story.
I liked the twist with Eve's sister and I did guess how her story ended but I was not convinced by Sophie's ending, the whole thing seemed contrived and a bit too convenient.
Overall this book was not a winner for me it lacked credibility and depth and after a promising start really didn't deliver - I would give this a 3 star rating.
This a story written from the point of view of two people, one in the past Eve Noel in the 1950's Hollywood, and one in the present Sophie Leigh, both actresses who travel from England to USA to become stars. I liked the story being revealed in parallel so that the reader seemed to unravel things at the same time as the characters but I felt distracted by what I considered to be unnecessary sub plots like the stalker. Eve Noel was a famous actress who at the height of her career suddenly disappears; years later Sophie Leigh (who is a huge fan of Eve's) moves into Eve's old house and while pursuing her own acting career is determined to find out what happened to Eve and hopefully when she finds her she wants to bring her back to the movies.
Of the two characters I wanted to learn more about Eve and felt that Harriet Evans connected better with this character than she did with Sophie Leigh. Eve was more interesting, intriguing and fascinating and believable than Sophie, I felt that Sophie's character was only there as a secondary storyteller rather than having a real purpose and story of her own, and that Sophie's life and experiences lacked credibility on many levels.
It was a shame that Harriet Evans didn't succeed in making both the characters as believable as each other, Sophie sleeping with her director just seemed to make her look cheap and didn't add anything to the story and in fact highlighted for me the differences between these two actresses rather than the similarities - Eve had fewer choices and was naive in an industry that was both artificial and corrupt, whereas Sophie I felt was more in control and should have been more worldly. I did like the way the book alternated between the past and the future stories but it did get confusing at times trying to work out whether it was Sophie or Eve telling their story.
I liked the twist with Eve's sister and I did guess how her story ended but I was not convinced by Sophie's ending, the whole thing seemed contrived and a bit too convenient.
Overall this book was not a winner for me it lacked credibility and depth and after a promising start really didn't deliver - I would give this a 3 star rating.
October 9, 2013
Full review can be found at http://chiquitablogger.wordpress.com
I am just beyond speechless right now. This book was the most amazingly different thing I have read in possibly all my life. I'm going to try and review it with the least amount of spoilers possible. However, there will be spoilers. You have been warned.
The story is of two women, Sophie and Eve. Sophie is a modern day Jennifer Aniston, and Eve was a 60s-ish Jean Harlow. They were both famous in their own time, and Eve is one of Sophie's idols.
Tragedy struck in Eve's childhood and she carries it with her through the book. And she gets hit with some heavy crap, and the movie making environment is purely toxic. She gets nearly raped, pretty much forced into a marriage, and then her true love gets ripped away from her two days before they were to run off together.
Sophie's life wasn't so bad. I mean, she was essentially Katherine Heigl, queen of the rom com and never making any movies of substance. Her handlers keep shoving her into these roles, but she wants to be a real actress. Drama and tragedy ensue with her, but as I don't want to spoil the entire book, I'll leave it at that.
This book was so beyond hauntingly beautiful that there are literally no words I have to describe my emotions about it. This was my first book of Harriet's, and holy crap, if they're all this fantabulous, sign me up. Read. This. Book. Now.
*Received an ARC for honest review.*
I am just beyond speechless right now. This book was the most amazingly different thing I have read in possibly all my life. I'm going to try and review it with the least amount of spoilers possible. However, there will be spoilers. You have been warned.
The story is of two women, Sophie and Eve. Sophie is a modern day Jennifer Aniston, and Eve was a 60s-ish Jean Harlow. They were both famous in their own time, and Eve is one of Sophie's idols.
Tragedy struck in Eve's childhood and she carries it with her through the book. And she gets hit with some heavy crap, and the movie making environment is purely toxic. She gets nearly raped, pretty much forced into a marriage, and then her true love gets ripped away from her two days before they were to run off together.
Sophie's life wasn't so bad. I mean, she was essentially Katherine Heigl, queen of the rom com and never making any movies of substance. Her handlers keep shoving her into these roles, but she wants to be a real actress. Drama and tragedy ensue with her, but as I don't want to spoil the entire book, I'll leave it at that.
This book was so beyond hauntingly beautiful that there are literally no words I have to describe my emotions about it. This was my first book of Harriet's, and holy crap, if they're all this fantabulous, sign me up. Read. This. Book. Now.
*Received an ARC for honest review.*
August 16, 2014
Not Without You starts out well. It's an interesting plot weaving together the story of Sophie, a young British born Hollywood star with the history of an earlier Hollywood legend, Eve. The two different stories work well together, with Eve's as a flashback from the '50's and Sophie's told in a contemporary time.
It's got the requisite mean, odious Hollywood moguls who expect young woman to do their bidding and interesting love interests for both Sophie and Eve.
But when the two women finally meet, the plot starts to dissolve into a mishmash, let's get this finished ending. I lost interest when the letters between Eve and Don (her long lost love) show up. The letters just didn't add any emotional impact to the story and felt uneven with the the way the story was being told up to that point.
For all the wonderful writing style of Harriet Evans, the poor ending was the reason it was a 3 star instead of 4 stars.
It's got the requisite mean, odious Hollywood moguls who expect young woman to do their bidding and interesting love interests for both Sophie and Eve.
But when the two women finally meet, the plot starts to dissolve into a mishmash, let's get this finished ending. I lost interest when the letters between Eve and Don (her long lost love) show up. The letters just didn't add any emotional impact to the story and felt uneven with the the way the story was being told up to that point.
For all the wonderful writing style of Harriet Evans, the poor ending was the reason it was a 3 star instead of 4 stars.
July 19, 2021
2.5 Stars. This is a book that doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up and neither does its characters. About midway through, it became a mystery, and not a very satisfying one at that, since I guessed who the perp was, and I never do that. Ever. Also, lots of loose ends: e.g., did Sophie actually see Donna out the car window? Why was this mentioned? And what happened with the sex tapes?
Did Eve really say something like, "I got here in the nick of time?" That scene was entirely unbelievable on every front.
Finally, Sophie has no moral compass. She blithely mentions sleeping with friends' boyfriends and, in retrospect, realizes that was *probably* unkind. In her more mature incarnation, Sophie still wants to sleep with her co-star because he is handsome and sleeps with her director because it's great sex.
You know, this book was mildly entertaining, but in the end, just plain dopey.
Did Eve really say something like, "I got here in the nick of time?" That scene was entirely unbelievable on every front.
Finally, Sophie has no moral compass. She blithely mentions sleeping with friends' boyfriends and, in retrospect, realizes that was *probably* unkind. In her more mature incarnation, Sophie still wants to sleep with her co-star because he is handsome and sleeps with her director because it's great sex.
You know, this book was mildly entertaining, but in the end, just plain dopey.
May 23, 2014
I really liked this book. It's a great beach read. Sophie Leigh’s real name is an A-list movie star. The descriptions of her life, fans, gossip magazines all RING so true. It's pretty much exactly how I imagine Hollywood to be. Sophie lives in the former home of Eve Noel an old Hollywood starlet.
Glamorous 1950s starlet Eve Noel didn’t choose her name. A Hollywood producer did. In fact, he made all her decisions—what to wear, when to smile, who to love. Right up until the day she simply vanished from the spotlight. No one knows where she went, or why.
As Sophie’s perfect-on-the-outside world begins to crumble, her present collides with Eve’s past. She must unravel the mystery around her idol’s disappearance before it’s too late for them both.
Glamorous 1950s starlet Eve Noel didn’t choose her name. A Hollywood producer did. In fact, he made all her decisions—what to wear, when to smile, who to love. Right up until the day she simply vanished from the spotlight. No one knows where she went, or why.
As Sophie’s perfect-on-the-outside world begins to crumble, her present collides with Eve’s past. She must unravel the mystery around her idol’s disappearance before it’s too late for them both.
February 11, 2014
Could not get into this story.....ended up flicking through pages to the end.
Didn't like the characters, the storyline or the narrative.
Didn't like the characters, the storyline or the narrative.
November 5, 2016
I'd do 3.5 if I could but this book surprised me. I just picked it up as a light beach read, and it ended up having more substance than I expected. Very enjoyable!
February 17, 2021
I may have mentioned that I love Harriet Evans! This book seems to be the exact tipping point between her contemporary romances told with a linear chronology, and her multi-generational, multi-time-frame, family sagas - I hadn't read it previously because it didn't fit comfortably into either genre, but, well, then I ran out of Harriet Evans to read and I was very much in need of a... book like this... and so I read it, and I am glad I did, because it was very good. (I do seem to have COMPLETELY run out of Harriet Evans now,* so I am hoping that Goodreads' algorithm/readers might be able to suggest someone else to read when I need a... book like this.)
So what is a book like this?
Long, that's important. Not too long, not like Ducks, Newburyport or Atlas Shrugged long, but you need to feel like it's going to be with you for a while, and you can settle in to the emotional landscape. That goes with the style: not too spare, and not too rich, so that you can dwell in the affective states that the book creates, without getting sticky.
A bit melodramatic, or at least intense in the emotional situations it creates: this book has stalkers and disfigurements and imprisonments and ECT and suicides and queer tragedies and Hollywood stars and symbolic white roses. Quite a saturated palette. Jewel tones.
But at the same time, it's not a wallow of a book. It does that thing that I think books are for (or one of the things books are for), which is to put subtle and complex affective states into words - to capture mixed or in-between feelings, moods, affects which haven't quite coagulated into the culturally-bounded state of recognizable emotions. The melodramatic aspects, I think, provide enough distance to make this bearable within the ordinary range of day-to-day experience - this isn't a book that takes an axe to the frozen sea within you, but it is a book that resonates with my own emotional experiences.
So an example from this book is that towards the end, someone . Now in Atlas Shrugged (or similar) that would be like a cool/grotesque thing to happen, and it would be basically just pleasurable to read about, like Uggggghhhh gross. And in arthouse cinema, I would find it unwatchably realistic (hello there, American History X, I will never know what happened in you). But in Harriet Evans, I feel it bodily and imagine that I know a little bit of what it would be like (unlike in Atlas Shrugged) - it's a real event that happened to the character - but I don't get hijacked or overly physically disrupted by it. It stays within endurable limits.
Anyway so that is what I mean by a book like this.
And this is a nice one! It takes up all the ideas about women's commercial fiction from Happily Ever After and transplants them to Hollywood and turns them all around and looks at them from different angles - thinking about how women survive and make careers for themselves, and make art for each other, within patriarchal systems. And how things are same same but different from the 1950s to the 2000s.
There are some gay men in this one, too, so that the heterosexual couple isn't the only site of patriarchal oppression. (I don't think there were any lesbians, but lesbians are rare in chicklit).
And I loved the long-delayed romance plot even though it was slightly ridiculous (I will say that that, plus the stalker plot, did tip into pure melodrama, but not so much as to scupper the book for me, because I liked the main character's narrative arc so much).
*ooh, no I think I might have missed one from 2009, I Remember You! Yayy!
So what is a book like this?
Long, that's important. Not too long, not like Ducks, Newburyport or Atlas Shrugged long, but you need to feel like it's going to be with you for a while, and you can settle in to the emotional landscape. That goes with the style: not too spare, and not too rich, so that you can dwell in the affective states that the book creates, without getting sticky.
A bit melodramatic, or at least intense in the emotional situations it creates: this book has stalkers and disfigurements and imprisonments and ECT and suicides and queer tragedies and Hollywood stars and symbolic white roses. Quite a saturated palette. Jewel tones.
But at the same time, it's not a wallow of a book. It does that thing that I think books are for (or one of the things books are for), which is to put subtle and complex affective states into words - to capture mixed or in-between feelings, moods, affects which haven't quite coagulated into the culturally-bounded state of recognizable emotions. The melodramatic aspects, I think, provide enough distance to make this bearable within the ordinary range of day-to-day experience - this isn't a book that takes an axe to the frozen sea within you, but it is a book that resonates with my own emotional experiences.
So an example from this book is that towards the end, someone . Now in Atlas Shrugged (or similar) that would be like a cool/grotesque thing to happen, and it would be basically just pleasurable to read about, like Uggggghhhh gross. And in arthouse cinema, I would find it unwatchably realistic (hello there, American History X, I will never know what happened in you). But in Harriet Evans, I feel it bodily and imagine that I know a little bit of what it would be like (unlike in Atlas Shrugged) - it's a real event that happened to the character - but I don't get hijacked or overly physically disrupted by it. It stays within endurable limits.
Anyway so that is what I mean by a book like this.
And this is a nice one! It takes up all the ideas about women's commercial fiction from Happily Ever After and transplants them to Hollywood and turns them all around and looks at them from different angles - thinking about how women survive and make careers for themselves, and make art for each other, within patriarchal systems. And how things are same same but different from the 1950s to the 2000s.
There are some gay men in this one, too, so that the heterosexual couple isn't the only site of patriarchal oppression. (I don't think there were any lesbians, but lesbians are rare in chicklit).
And I loved the long-delayed romance plot even though it was slightly ridiculous (I will say that that, plus the stalker plot, did tip into pure melodrama, but not so much as to scupper the book for me, because I liked the main character's narrative arc so much).
*ooh, no I think I might have missed one from 2009, I Remember You! Yayy!
February 18, 2019
When I was younger I remember my mum reading books by writers like Jackie Collins and Pat Booth about Tinseltown and its inhabitants, but the difference between those books and this offering by Harriet Evans is that they took themselves seriously and advocated the lifestyle. Harriet uses the stories of Eve Noel and Sophie Leigh to expose the repulsive reality of the Hollywood film industry. I’ve always been an enthusiastic film watcher, but I’ve never had any interest in how the film gets to the screen.
Eve leaves the Warwickshire countryside in her early 20s to seek her fortune as an actress. She soon has to wake up from being a young ingénue and realise what it is all about, and learns about how you get on in the most unpleasant way. Her life and career weren’t happy despite all the rave reviews for her films and adulation of fans; so much so that she vanishes after only five or six years at the top.
50 years on, Sophie is living a parallel life. She is a huge fan of Eve and identifies with her so much so that she actually bought her house. Also a famous movie star, Sophie is disillusioned with her career. She wasn’t a particularly engaging character, having cheapened herself quite early on in her acting career and slowly realises she has sold out. The vapidity, venal behaviour, total disrespect and corruption was unbelievable. And I am sure it happens in real life, which means I probably won’t look at Hollywood the same way again!
This isn’t sweet chick lit, but a story about the dark side of the film industry and the research carried out is commendable. Sophie wants to do more with her career than be a chick flick staple and wants to make a film about the life of Eve and decides to find out what has happened to her and why she disappeared all those years ago.
I don’t think I liked any of the characters in this book and there were too many strange events that went nowhere. The biggest cliché in the book, sleeping with a director and agreeing to make a sex tape is the ultimate in stupidity, but it had no consequences. We’ve all waited for that romantic phone call that goes “I have to f*** you today or I will lose my mind”, haven’t we?! When it all goes a bit Single White Female, which we could all see happening, Sophie actually suspects what is going on and who is behind it but doesn’t do anything about it until it is all far too late.
Hollywood is a frightening place to be and this book makes you wonder if things really have moved on or not.
But I couldn't stop singing Big Sur by the Thrills throughout my read!
Eve leaves the Warwickshire countryside in her early 20s to seek her fortune as an actress. She soon has to wake up from being a young ingénue and realise what it is all about, and learns about how you get on in the most unpleasant way. Her life and career weren’t happy despite all the rave reviews for her films and adulation of fans; so much so that she vanishes after only five or six years at the top.
50 years on, Sophie is living a parallel life. She is a huge fan of Eve and identifies with her so much so that she actually bought her house. Also a famous movie star, Sophie is disillusioned with her career. She wasn’t a particularly engaging character, having cheapened herself quite early on in her acting career and slowly realises she has sold out. The vapidity, venal behaviour, total disrespect and corruption was unbelievable. And I am sure it happens in real life, which means I probably won’t look at Hollywood the same way again!
This isn’t sweet chick lit, but a story about the dark side of the film industry and the research carried out is commendable. Sophie wants to do more with her career than be a chick flick staple and wants to make a film about the life of Eve and decides to find out what has happened to her and why she disappeared all those years ago.
I don’t think I liked any of the characters in this book and there were too many strange events that went nowhere. The biggest cliché in the book, sleeping with a director and agreeing to make a sex tape is the ultimate in stupidity, but it had no consequences. We’ve all waited for that romantic phone call that goes “I have to f*** you today or I will lose my mind”, haven’t we?! When it all goes a bit Single White Female, which we could all see happening, Sophie actually suspects what is going on and who is behind it but doesn’t do anything about it until it is all far too late.
Hollywood is a frightening place to be and this book makes you wonder if things really have moved on or not.
But I couldn't stop singing Big Sur by the Thrills throughout my read!
September 4, 2017
I didn't enjoy this book until I was about at page 300. And it's a 400 page book so that didn't give me much room to enjoy. There was mystery in it that didn't have any flavor. Even the solution was very vanilla.
The story follows two actresses - Eve Noel in the 1960's and Sophie Leigh in the modern day. Sophie is just becoming a famous actress and struggling with all the ramifications that come with it. She doesn't mean to, but she reads the tabloids about herself and she obsesses about her weight. One of her consolations is to sit on the couch and watch movies with Eve, her favorite actress.
You know from the prologue that Eve will disappear from show business without a trace. Eve is just coming to Hollywood and also becoming a breakout star. She isn't allowed to pick out her name, her boyfriend, or anything else. She is monitored and always has someone watching over her.
I thought these two stories would be very interesting. Sophie is trying to find Eve to star in a picture with her and I thought they would intertwine more. But they are two stories that are just next to each other. There is no one in Eve's story who shows up in Sophie's story and you don't read any of the passages from one story to the next and think "how ironic".
Sophie gets a stalker who delivers white roses which was Eve Noel's favorite flower. But Sophie doesn't know this, so it's just another lost point. The book had many of these lost points and solutions that left you hollow.
The story follows two actresses - Eve Noel in the 1960's and Sophie Leigh in the modern day. Sophie is just becoming a famous actress and struggling with all the ramifications that come with it. She doesn't mean to, but she reads the tabloids about herself and she obsesses about her weight. One of her consolations is to sit on the couch and watch movies with Eve, her favorite actress.
You know from the prologue that Eve will disappear from show business without a trace. Eve is just coming to Hollywood and also becoming a breakout star. She isn't allowed to pick out her name, her boyfriend, or anything else. She is monitored and always has someone watching over her.
I thought these two stories would be very interesting. Sophie is trying to find Eve to star in a picture with her and I thought they would intertwine more. But they are two stories that are just next to each other. There is no one in Eve's story who shows up in Sophie's story and you don't read any of the passages from one story to the next and think "how ironic".
Sophie gets a stalker who delivers white roses which was Eve Noel's favorite flower. But Sophie doesn't know this, so it's just another lost point. The book had many of these lost points and solutions that left you hollow.
July 7, 2024
I didn't get on well at all with the previous Harriet Evans book I tried, but Not Without You was already on my shelf so I decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did!
It follows two different A-list movie stars - one in the 1950s and one in the 2010s - and of course their stories eventually end up intersecting in an interesting way.
There are very good parallels and contrasts drawn between life as a woman in Hollywood in those two time periods, and both settings are well drawn.
I initially didn't connect to Sophie (in 2012) and was much more interested in Eve (in 1950s) but it balanced out over time and I really liked how the two storylines eventually came together.
There were some issues with repeated phrases (within a couple of paragraphs), some muddled tenses and few logistical inconsistencies. I also felt that the couple of references to the title in the narrative were overdone and too similar. But generally the book kept me engaged throughout, but without making me want to skim to find out what happened.
I wasn't keen on some of the quite unpleasant sexual content - but it was realistic for the story. I also felt that, while both women were quite forthright and strong in some respects, they were both rather idiotic (or wilfully blind) about their relationships, despite noting the red flags and then basically just ignoring them.
It got a bit melodramatic towards the end, but the aftermath of the climax and the epilogue were great and I was very satisfied with the ultimate conclusion.
So, a great read overall.
It follows two different A-list movie stars - one in the 1950s and one in the 2010s - and of course their stories eventually end up intersecting in an interesting way.
There are very good parallels and contrasts drawn between life as a woman in Hollywood in those two time periods, and both settings are well drawn.
I initially didn't connect to Sophie (in 2012) and was much more interested in Eve (in 1950s) but it balanced out over time and I really liked how the two storylines eventually came together.
There were some issues with repeated phrases (within a couple of paragraphs), some muddled tenses and few logistical inconsistencies. I also felt that the couple of references to the title in the narrative were overdone and too similar. But generally the book kept me engaged throughout, but without making me want to skim to find out what happened.
I wasn't keen on some of the quite unpleasant sexual content - but it was realistic for the story. I also felt that, while both women were quite forthright and strong in some respects, they were both rather idiotic (or wilfully blind) about their relationships, despite noting the red flags and then basically just ignoring them.
It got a bit melodramatic towards the end, but the aftermath of the climax and the epilogue were great and I was very satisfied with the ultimate conclusion.
So, a great read overall.
February 25, 2021
Proof copy originally reviewed for Lovereading. Not without you is a novel that explores fame and relationships, both in the past and present time. The lives of two women, both film stars are detailed, flashing back to the beginning of their respective carers continuing to the present day.
Sophie Leigh lives in Hollywood, she is beginning to feel hemmed in by her fame and stereotyped casting. She has always loved the old films of the fifties film star Eve Noel. Eve, was plucked from obscurity, her whole young life re written to suit the producers and others that control her. Her relationships scrutinised and criticised in much the same way as Sophie’s are half a century later. Sophie soon finds herself getting involved in the search for Eve, who disappeared suddenly at the height of her fame. Queue a stalker, mad old lady, handsome ex and more secrets from the past.
I found the book slow to start with, the harsh realities of life in the industry in both centuries hard to enjoy. The storylines had nothing in them I could relate to initially so it took longer to get to grips with the themes and characters. I love a mystery and was intrigued, how the two stories might intertwine. As I read on, both the main characters became more likeable and vulnerable. By the end of the book I was hooked. The characters haunted me long after finishing the book and it took me this, to realise what a good story teller Harriet Evans is
Sophie Leigh lives in Hollywood, she is beginning to feel hemmed in by her fame and stereotyped casting. She has always loved the old films of the fifties film star Eve Noel. Eve, was plucked from obscurity, her whole young life re written to suit the producers and others that control her. Her relationships scrutinised and criticised in much the same way as Sophie’s are half a century later. Sophie soon finds herself getting involved in the search for Eve, who disappeared suddenly at the height of her fame. Queue a stalker, mad old lady, handsome ex and more secrets from the past.
I found the book slow to start with, the harsh realities of life in the industry in both centuries hard to enjoy. The storylines had nothing in them I could relate to initially so it took longer to get to grips with the themes and characters. I love a mystery and was intrigued, how the two stories might intertwine. As I read on, both the main characters became more likeable and vulnerable. By the end of the book I was hooked. The characters haunted me long after finishing the book and it took me this, to realise what a good story teller Harriet Evans is
April 1, 2018
Every once in a while, you come across a book which you are really unsure about. The cover isn’t THAT enticing (YEAH, I know! I judge books by their covers! SUE ME! *rolls eyes* The story starts off really slow and NOT-THAT-INTERESTING and at some point, you feel like abandoning it and AT PRECISELY THAT MOMENT, everything changes!! It’s like the book senses you are being thrown off and BAM! It becomes impossible to tear your eyes off it!
THAT’S WHAT ’Not Without You’ IS LIKE!!
GODDD!! I just finished it a few minutes before and I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! I AM SOOOO IN LOVE WITH IT I WANNA CRY!
The characters, the plot, the nostalgia! It's all too damn good to be missed!
THAT’S WHAT ’Not Without You’ IS LIKE!!
GODDD!! I just finished it a few minutes before and I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! I AM SOOOO IN LOVE WITH IT I WANNA CRY!
The characters, the plot, the nostalgia! It's all too damn good to be missed!
June 19, 2017
This by far is my least favorite from Evans so far, but I love all of her other books so I have really high standards from this author. The plot was ok & the story was good but a bit boring at times. It did get very good at the end which made up for the blah story. I love chick lit light books, celebrities, etc but I felt like this story was an afterthought. Still worth the read just not good compared to the rest of her novels.
February 27, 2021
Definitely got better towards the end, but it took too long to get to that point. I really didn't like the 'weakness' of Sophie, her inability to stand up for herself. She felt wishy-washy and easily manipulated by everyone. There was something very sad/pathetic about her that made her difficult to like. Preferred the 'Eve' story line. I was expecting more of a connection between the two stories, based on the books description, beyond 'we're both female actresses in a male-dominated world'.
November 25, 2017
I loved the writing in this, in transported me back to old Hollywood at times. It’s two stories woven together, both centered around “it girl” actresses, one in present day and one in the golden age. It tackles some real issues at times but is an engrossing read.
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For more of my book reviews: http://www.mysortofadultlife.com/cate...
March 7, 2019
The idea is great, to get 2 actresses of different era to cross path. A few first chapters look promising but I can hardly find the connection between Sophie and Eve; the connection is somehow forced to be included in the story. However their struggle in the film industry feels real to me, that's a plus point.
April 19, 2020
This book took me forever to read. I just really couldn't get into the story until about mid-way through the second part. I also wasn't crazy about any of the characters--it's so often hard to be sympathetic to the successful & rich and this book didn't do a great job of humanizing any of the characters in the book. All said, not my favorite Harriet Evans book by a long shot.
September 14, 2020
Honestly, one of my favorite books. It is an easy read, but definitely kept my attention. I loved the characters and the premise. It was odd, since I had never heard of this book. I found it for 2 dollars in a discount store, desperate for a good story. I’m so glad I went with this book.
May 21, 2023
this was actually so good it just took me forever to read. i feel like if you really liked the seven husbands of evelyn hugo you’d probably like this bc it was kinda similar but not at the same time anyways it was really good
July 26, 2017
Entertaining but pretty predictable. Still enjoyable as a summer read, especially if you like old movies and/or checking the gossip magazines on today's movie stars.
December 23, 2017
This book was superb. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I couldn't put it down. It was crazy how it not only started but ended also. I did not get bored while reading this at all.
December 18, 2018
Story premise was good, but the writing not up to par and the storyline a little scattered.
September 6, 2019
Hamad jan
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