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Three Girls and Their Brother
Now that it’s all over, everybody is saying it was the picture–that stupid picture was behind every disaster. . . .
They may be the granddaughters of a famous literary critic, but what really starts it all is Daria, Polly, and Amelia Heller’s stunning red hair. Out of the blue one day, The New Yorker calls and says that they want to feature the girls in a glamorous spread shot by a world-famous photographer, and before long these three beautiful nobodies from Brooklyn have been proclaimed the new “It” girls.
But with no parental guidance–Mom’s a former beauty queen living vicariously through her daughters, and Dad is nowhere to be found–the three girls find themselves easy prey for the sharks and piranhas of show business. Posing in every hot fashion magazine, tangling with snarling fashonistas and soulless agents, skipping school and hitting A-list parties, the sisters are caught up in a whirlwind rise to fame that quickly spirals out of control.
When Amelia, the youngest of the three–who never really wanted to be a model in the first place–appears in an Off-Broadway play, the balance of power shifts, all the pent-up resentment and pressure comes to a head, and the girls’ quiet, neglected brother reaches a critical point of virtual breakdown. And against the odds, even as the struggle for fame threatens to tear the family apart, the Hellers begin to see that despite the jealousy, greed, and uncertainty that have come to define their relationships, in the celebrity world of viciousness and betrayal, all they really have is one another.
Narrated in four parts, from the perspective of each sibling, Three Girls and Their Brother is a sharp, perceptive, and brilliantly written debut novel from an acclaimed playwright.
From the Hardcover edition.
They may be the granddaughters of a famous literary critic, but what really starts it all is Daria, Polly, and Amelia Heller’s stunning red hair. Out of the blue one day, The New Yorker calls and says that they want to feature the girls in a glamorous spread shot by a world-famous photographer, and before long these three beautiful nobodies from Brooklyn have been proclaimed the new “It” girls.
But with no parental guidance–Mom’s a former beauty queen living vicariously through her daughters, and Dad is nowhere to be found–the three girls find themselves easy prey for the sharks and piranhas of show business. Posing in every hot fashion magazine, tangling with snarling fashonistas and soulless agents, skipping school and hitting A-list parties, the sisters are caught up in a whirlwind rise to fame that quickly spirals out of control.
When Amelia, the youngest of the three–who never really wanted to be a model in the first place–appears in an Off-Broadway play, the balance of power shifts, all the pent-up resentment and pressure comes to a head, and the girls’ quiet, neglected brother reaches a critical point of virtual breakdown. And against the odds, even as the struggle for fame threatens to tear the family apart, the Hellers begin to see that despite the jealousy, greed, and uncertainty that have come to define their relationships, in the celebrity world of viciousness and betrayal, all they really have is one another.
Narrated in four parts, from the perspective of each sibling, Three Girls and Their Brother is a sharp, perceptive, and brilliantly written debut novel from an acclaimed playwright.
From the Hardcover edition.
341 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
20 people are currently reading
765 people want to read
About the author
Theresa Rebeck
67 books114 followersTheresa Rebeck is a playwright. She also works as a television writer. Her input went into popular shows such as Dream On, Brooklyn Bridge, L.A. Law, American Dreamer, Maximum Bob, First Wave, and Third Watch.
She also wrote and produced Canterbury’s Law, Smith, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and NYPD Blue.
Ms. Rebeck has an MFA in Playwrighting and a PhD. in Victorian Melodrama, from Brandeis University. She is a board member of the Dramatists Guild and has taught at Brandeis and Columbia Universities.
She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband Jess Lynn and two children, Cooper and Cleo.
She also wrote and produced Canterbury’s Law, Smith, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and NYPD Blue.
Ms. Rebeck has an MFA in Playwrighting and a PhD. in Victorian Melodrama, from Brandeis University. She is a board member of the Dramatists Guild and has taught at Brandeis and Columbia Universities.
She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband Jess Lynn and two children, Cooper and Cleo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
April 15, 2008
This is a fun, sometimes poignant read about how their fifteen minutes of fame affects each of the three drop-dead gorgeous sisters and the subsequent jettisoning of the brother. The story works well as it is told from the four separate siblings, each in his/her own section that continues to advance the plot.This is a compulsive read that I just didn't want to put down till I had finished it. The cover of the copy that I have has a completely different image of a beautiful woman who has a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face as an anonymous hand is lighting her cigarette. I don't really think that either of these covers really does justice to the characters or the story. You would never know that all of the characters are teens from looking at these covers, for instance.
June 24, 2008
I nearly didn't make it through this overpraised novel (by a decent playwright and television screenwriter), but had insomnia and nothing better to do than read it while lying on the sofa and cursing my existence. From the first chapter it is painfully clear that this book is exactly what the world does not need more of -- an examination of overindulged rich New York teenagers who think Holden Caulfield is the height of wit and authenticity. Let me tell you, A Catcher in the Rye wasn't that good to begin with, no matter what your high school English teacher may have told you. All of those irritating tics are everpresent here -- I ask you, when was the last time you heard a New York City private school teenager call something "lousy" or "crummy" or "phony"? Exactly. Janet Maslin nails it thusly:
Among the sore-thumb Salingeresque locutions that color the book, no matter which of its similar voices is narrating: “sort of corny,” “lousy,” “swell,” “phony,” “just a little kid,” “that’s exactly what it felt like, it really was,” and “which I found really creepy, if you want to know the truth.”
In addition to the inauthentic voices of the four central characters, who take turns telling the story (briefly described, three hot redheaded teenage sisters and their sad-sack brother, the grandchildren of a famous intellectual, who are somehow launched into the celebutante stratosphere when someone gets the brilliant idea of doing a fashion spread of them for The New Yorker of all publications), all the voices sound exactly alike. Add in cartoon cut-out figures of lecherous movie stars, ruthless agents, mealy-mouthed publicists, and incompetent, harridan parents, and you have a book that's long on flashbulb images of a tiny segment of fashionista nightlife and short on plot, character development, wit, or really any redeeming literary feature.
Worst of all, nothing actually really happens. There are repeated references to "and here's where things really started to go haywire" but the story has no arc. Some hints are dropped about the monstrous things the absent daddy once did to the oldest daughter, and there is some business involving a gun in a hotel room, but nothing is developed. Moreover, the book doesn't really make sense. I mean, the kids live with their ex-beauty queen mother who pimps them out to movie stars and talent agents in BROOKLYN? Puh-leeze.
Among the sore-thumb Salingeresque locutions that color the book, no matter which of its similar voices is narrating: “sort of corny,” “lousy,” “swell,” “phony,” “just a little kid,” “that’s exactly what it felt like, it really was,” and “which I found really creepy, if you want to know the truth.”
In addition to the inauthentic voices of the four central characters, who take turns telling the story (briefly described, three hot redheaded teenage sisters and their sad-sack brother, the grandchildren of a famous intellectual, who are somehow launched into the celebutante stratosphere when someone gets the brilliant idea of doing a fashion spread of them for The New Yorker of all publications), all the voices sound exactly alike. Add in cartoon cut-out figures of lecherous movie stars, ruthless agents, mealy-mouthed publicists, and incompetent, harridan parents, and you have a book that's long on flashbulb images of a tiny segment of fashionista nightlife and short on plot, character development, wit, or really any redeeming literary feature.
Worst of all, nothing actually really happens. There are repeated references to "and here's where things really started to go haywire" but the story has no arc. Some hints are dropped about the monstrous things the absent daddy once did to the oldest daughter, and there is some business involving a gun in a hotel room, but nothing is developed. Moreover, the book doesn't really make sense. I mean, the kids live with their ex-beauty queen mother who pimps them out to movie stars and talent agents in BROOKLYN? Puh-leeze.
December 24, 2011
This was the right book to read in the month when Lindsay Lohan's Playboy pictorial came out. Daria, Polly, and Amelia Heller are, like Lohan, products of dysfunctional parents. Their mother has an out of control fascination with fame and their father, who has serious issues that are revealed later in the story, is an absentee parent with a new family.
Three Girls and Their Brother must have been inspired by the Hemingway sisters. Like Joan, Margaux, and Mariel, the Heller girls are the grandchildren of a major literary figure and are successful models and actresses. The similarities continue as Amelia, the youngest Heller, begins to achieve the most success and becomes involved with a film actor who has a destructive interest in very young girls.
The Heller women, unlike their real life counterparts, have a brother. Philip has a view of what is important in life that runs counter to the view of their mother. He is very protective of Amelia and serves as an anchor to the wild action in the story.
The story is told through the points of view of the three siblings. This is handled very well and works to increase the sense that these young people are the only family they have.
This is a feel good book in the sense that it makes those of us who are not famous, satisfied with our lives. I was disappointed with the ending which had elements that felt as if they were set up and somewhat unbelievable. Also, there were too many issues left open. But overall, it was an excellent read and lots of fun. I listened to the audio version, which was well narrated.
Three Girls and Their Brother must have been inspired by the Hemingway sisters. Like Joan, Margaux, and Mariel, the Heller girls are the grandchildren of a major literary figure and are successful models and actresses. The similarities continue as Amelia, the youngest Heller, begins to achieve the most success and becomes involved with a film actor who has a destructive interest in very young girls.
The Heller women, unlike their real life counterparts, have a brother. Philip has a view of what is important in life that runs counter to the view of their mother. He is very protective of Amelia and serves as an anchor to the wild action in the story.
The story is told through the points of view of the three siblings. This is handled very well and works to increase the sense that these young people are the only family they have.
This is a feel good book in the sense that it makes those of us who are not famous, satisfied with our lives. I was disappointed with the ending which had elements that felt as if they were set up and somewhat unbelievable. Also, there were too many issues left open. But overall, it was an excellent read and lots of fun. I listened to the audio version, which was well narrated.
February 4, 2009
I devoured this one and can't wait to convincing readers who love books about fashion, models, paparazzi, and fame to read it too. I look forward to tricking them into reading an amazingly well-written, funny, sad, and tense story of three sisters who are transformed into "It Girls" and their brother who tries to protect them as they become commodities. The book gives each sibling a turn to narrate the roller coaster ride and I thought Rebeck did a fantastic job of giving them each their own voice while keeping the story moving forward at a breakneck speed. Both adults and teens will love this behind the scenes look at the price of fame in contemporary America.
March 17, 2009
Playwright, Rebeck, knows how to tell a good story with lively dialog. Three beautiful red haired teenage girls discover that fame has real drawbacks after they become models. Although it was published for adults, it will please many teen readers.
March 27, 2020
This is actually a really hard review to write. I started out struggling to get into Theresa Rebeck's style of writing which, quite frankly, was incredibly irritating and confusing for about the first half of the book. Someone needs to tell her that a '?' goes at the end of a question, not a statement. There were so many sentences - and at times paragraphs - that I had to re-read just to figure out what on earth she was saying, not because it was so highbrow, but because it just didn't make sense. Also, what teenage boy spends that long talking about how devastatingly hot his three sisters are? That was just a little too creepy especially when first setting up the family dynamics.
But... being the stubborn person that I am, I persevered. And all-in-all I am glad that I did. By the last section, I was actually a little riveted by the story. Perhaps the poor sentence structure was supposed to be the mark of an adolescent voice because once the two older siblings took over the narration, the frequency of this reduced somewhat. This allowed for the force of the 'Me too' message to shine through much more. The idea that young teenage girls and women are so regularly thrown into an adult world of alcohol, sex, drugs, and judgement by the entertainment industry is appalling. The fact that for this to happen means that the adults (including parents?) of these girls actively look the other way, bury their heads in the sand, or -in the worst cases- knowingly set up these situations is even more shameful.
In the end, Rebeck managed to deliver a story of four siblings who, like all siblings, both frustrate and love each other and who at the end of the day are willing to listen to their consciences when the adults around them continue to 'play the game'.
But... being the stubborn person that I am, I persevered. And all-in-all I am glad that I did. By the last section, I was actually a little riveted by the story. Perhaps the poor sentence structure was supposed to be the mark of an adolescent voice because once the two older siblings took over the narration, the frequency of this reduced somewhat. This allowed for the force of the 'Me too' message to shine through much more. The idea that young teenage girls and women are so regularly thrown into an adult world of alcohol, sex, drugs, and judgement by the entertainment industry is appalling. The fact that for this to happen means that the adults (including parents?) of these girls actively look the other way, bury their heads in the sand, or -in the worst cases- knowingly set up these situations is even more shameful.
In the end, Rebeck managed to deliver a story of four siblings who, like all siblings, both frustrate and love each other and who at the end of the day are willing to listen to their consciences when the adults around them continue to 'play the game'.
June 13, 2009
Actually, once you get into it, this is a very strong and compelling first novel by an experienced playwright. Think Catcher in the Rye meets Project Runway. The tale of alienated adolescence is told from the perspectives of four siblings, each in turn, as a commentary on the base manipulations and shallow self-absorption that seem to drive media fixations on which celebrity du jour is "IN" at the moment. The novel follows the chain of events as the three redheaded Heller girls—Daria, 18; Polly, 17, and Amelia, 14—are discovered as the latest thing after a pivotal photoshoot for The New Yorker, its readers already recognizing their last name due to their dead grandfather who is one of those literary critics all educated people have heard of but no one really reads. The tension throughout the story rests on the seductive pull and power of glamour versus the yearnings for a meaningful family life, particularly when your parents are totally selfish and clueless people, each in their own disappointing but distinctive way.
The first narrator is Philip, the 15 year old brother who is a 21st century descendant of Holden Caulfield, while Amelia, the second narrator, is by extension a modern equivalent of Holden’s little sister Phoebe. The third sister Polly takes up the tale next, and she’s the one who seems to exude sexuality and is therefore always expected to be most like a bimbo. Daria’s is the final voice we hear; I liked her the least through most of the book and profited by seeing things through her perspective as the narrative moved toward its climax.
I think women will certainly be much more interested in this book than men, given the heavy focus on fashion and the life of supermodels. It is its damning commentary on the parents who create such dysfunctional families that interested me more, personally. At first, I felt the dialogue a bit contrived and over the top, just a tad too precious, but once I got into the flow of the book I grew quite accustomed to it, and even started to enjoy it. Perhaps that’s because the book also taught me to rethink the way I stereotype the wants, needs, and behaviors of models. Some of them are people too, and might be happier just watching reruns of Star Trek with their older brother and a family dog rather than drinking Cristal with Eurotrash twice their age in swanky uptown clubs.
The first narrator is Philip, the 15 year old brother who is a 21st century descendant of Holden Caulfield, while Amelia, the second narrator, is by extension a modern equivalent of Holden’s little sister Phoebe. The third sister Polly takes up the tale next, and she’s the one who seems to exude sexuality and is therefore always expected to be most like a bimbo. Daria’s is the final voice we hear; I liked her the least through most of the book and profited by seeing things through her perspective as the narrative moved toward its climax.
I think women will certainly be much more interested in this book than men, given the heavy focus on fashion and the life of supermodels. It is its damning commentary on the parents who create such dysfunctional families that interested me more, personally. At first, I felt the dialogue a bit contrived and over the top, just a tad too precious, but once I got into the flow of the book I grew quite accustomed to it, and even started to enjoy it. Perhaps that’s because the book also taught me to rethink the way I stereotype the wants, needs, and behaviors of models. Some of them are people too, and might be happier just watching reruns of Star Trek with their older brother and a family dog rather than drinking Cristal with Eurotrash twice their age in swanky uptown clubs.
May 15, 2018
I can't say enough about how much I loved this book. I really loved how there was a continuing perspective from each of the main characters point of view. The story line was catchy and had me immediately drawn in, and I felt like I was really reading a guilty pleasure based on the premise of the book. That in itself kept me reeled in for the entire novel.
The novel starts out from Phillip's point of view; the younger brother with an actual head on his shoulders. He pretty much seems to be the only person in the story (apart from Amelia in the first half of the novel) that has any sense and can see that the whole "Lets make these girls famous overnight" situation is going to eventually turn bad. Amelia initially is not too pleased with being dragged around like someone's puppet either but since she is so young, she is forced into it, and eventually falls into the smoke and mirrors.
The two older sisters, who's perspectives are not as focused in as Phillip and Amelia's eventually come around and really begin to see that a train wreck is about to happen, they just don't know how or when. I loved that the reader was able to see that train wreck coming WAY ahead of time and perhaps that what kept me completely obsessed with reading this the whole way through.
The novel starts out from Phillip's point of view; the younger brother with an actual head on his shoulders. He pretty much seems to be the only person in the story (apart from Amelia in the first half of the novel) that has any sense and can see that the whole "Lets make these girls famous overnight" situation is going to eventually turn bad. Amelia initially is not too pleased with being dragged around like someone's puppet either but since she is so young, she is forced into it, and eventually falls into the smoke and mirrors.
The two older sisters, who's perspectives are not as focused in as Phillip and Amelia's eventually come around and really begin to see that a train wreck is about to happen, they just don't know how or when. I loved that the reader was able to see that train wreck coming WAY ahead of time and perhaps that what kept me completely obsessed with reading this the whole way through.
September 3, 2011
Another fantastic recommendation from my friend Patricia.
I wish that I had remembered to keep the book to refer back to for writing my review before I turned it back in at the library. In all honesty, when I started in on the book, I wasn't so sure that I liked it. But as I neared the end of the first chapter, I fell in complete and utter love. In this chapter, the brother is describing his sisters' first photo shoot and how he got pulled in for a few shots. He doesn't really enjoy himself and get comfortable for a while, and as soon as he does, that's when he's pulled out of the shoot. And maybe this will sound a bit pretentious here as I explain it, but he compares it to life in general, about how you never really figure out how to enjoy it until it's too late.
That's it, that's what hooked me. I fell in love with this book.
It's not perfect by any means, and it's not some literary masterpiece, but it's good fun and tremendously readable. (As an aside, I thought the oldest sister's sudden turnaround at the very end was completely out of left field and not especially believable, but that's my only quibble with the story). If you're anything like me, you'll end up feeling bad for these kids, especially the brother, but you'll have fun along the way, too.
I wish that I had remembered to keep the book to refer back to for writing my review before I turned it back in at the library. In all honesty, when I started in on the book, I wasn't so sure that I liked it. But as I neared the end of the first chapter, I fell in complete and utter love. In this chapter, the brother is describing his sisters' first photo shoot and how he got pulled in for a few shots. He doesn't really enjoy himself and get comfortable for a while, and as soon as he does, that's when he's pulled out of the shoot. And maybe this will sound a bit pretentious here as I explain it, but he compares it to life in general, about how you never really figure out how to enjoy it until it's too late.
That's it, that's what hooked me. I fell in love with this book.
It's not perfect by any means, and it's not some literary masterpiece, but it's good fun and tremendously readable. (As an aside, I thought the oldest sister's sudden turnaround at the very end was completely out of left field and not especially believable, but that's my only quibble with the story). If you're anything like me, you'll end up feeling bad for these kids, especially the brother, but you'll have fun along the way, too.
April 10, 2009
Oh, my god, this was so much fun. Three sisters (aged 14 to 19) become "it" girls overnight, get embroiled in creepy celebrity craziness, and have to find their way back to being a family unit. Meanwhle, almost every person around them is out to exploit them in some way, including their mother, who has exiled their brother to his unloving dad's house because he was asking uncomfortable questions. (I guess that's a spoiler...sorry.) This is one of those books where you feel like you're on a fast-moving train with the characters. Not all of the plot elements hang together perfectly, but I didn't care, and neither should you.
For you young adult lit readers out there, I think this might qualify. It was the first book I'd read in a long time where all of the narrators were teens.
For you young adult lit readers out there, I think this might qualify. It was the first book I'd read in a long time where all of the narrators were teens.
May 4, 2009
Kate was right, very entertaining.
I want to say, however, that I feel VERY strongly about the cover art on the book. It is terrible and awful. I was embarrassed to be seen with it and seriously considered making a book cover out of a paper grocery bag (okay, I admit, I kind of just wanted to do that for old times sake, especially for the decorating part). Anyway, this cover is so bad and I think it really misrepresents the book.
I liked the brother Philips voice the very best. I found him to be completely witty, wise and wonderful. Read: completely implausible. But whaddyagonnado, who cares as long as I'm entertained!!
I want to say, however, that I feel VERY strongly about the cover art on the book. It is terrible and awful. I was embarrassed to be seen with it and seriously considered making a book cover out of a paper grocery bag (okay, I admit, I kind of just wanted to do that for old times sake, especially for the decorating part). Anyway, this cover is so bad and I think it really misrepresents the book.
I liked the brother Philips voice the very best. I found him to be completely witty, wise and wonderful. Read: completely implausible. But whaddyagonnado, who cares as long as I'm entertained!!
March 16, 2016
Man, what a bag of cliches this book is. I got halfway through the second part (Amelia's voice) and all I could think of was: who gives a damn about these vapid, self-centred, useless people? There are so many more really worthwhile books out there, so adios to Three Girls and Their Brother.
October 1, 2019
The premise of this book sounded intriguing, but the execution of it was less so. We are expected to buy that The New Yorker would choose to do a photo spread on these kids, simply because their grandfather was a great literary figure...okaaaaaay. Considering how desperate the mother of the Heller sisters was for them to have fame and celebrity, it would have made more sense to just have her push them into modeling from the beginning, than to have this convoluted reason for how they became famous.
The choice of the male reader for the audio version of this book was a poor one. He has a nice voice, but he is much older than 15, so the voice of Philip was always off. It didn't help that Philip spent way too much time at the beginning of his part of the story talking about how beautiful his sisters are, especially his favorite, Amelia. I don't have any brothers, but I can imagine that if I did I would find it creepy as hell if he spent a lot of time thinking about what a great body I have or how gorgeous I am. That was over the line, as was the insistence on stating over and over again just how GORGEOUS Amelia, Polly and Daria are. Ridiculous.
As for the story itself, oh boy. Every single adult in this book is a horrible, horrible person. I truly hope they are intended to be caricatures because if they are supposed to be based on real people, we as a society are certainly doomed. The mother of the Heller kids is especially awful. Not only does she throw her son away, handing him over to his equally terrible father, for no good reason, she also turned a blind eye to the fact that one of her daughters was repeatedly molested by the same father and she allows grown men to fondle her daughters, ply them with drinks and doesn't care whether they go to school or not. I kept screaming in my head and even out loud in my car that Amelia is on l 14!! 14!! yet she was basically forced to drop out of high school, become a model against her will, stay out until all hours of the night drinking with grown men without any adult supervision and basically figure out how to care for herself - not because she wanted to do any of this, like Polly and Daria did, but because it was what her mother wanted.
The structure of this book was also a bit off. Since all of the characters tell their part of the story in past tense, as if they are recalling this period of time for someone, I thought we would come to find out that they are all now adults, telling the reader what happened to them as kids, but that isn't the case. Having the same woman read the parts of the story told by Polly, Daria and Amelia also didn't help. She didn't change her voice at all for any of the three, so even when they various characters were supposedly talking to each other, it was hard to know who was saying what. Considering Polly and Daria were basically interchangeable as characters to boot, this made it all the more confusing.
The ending was disappointing, to say the least. We knew there was going to be an incident in a hotel room involving a gun, since that is stated on the book jacket, but the way it played out was a bit odd; again we have a 14 year old in a hotel room with a 47 year old man and NONE of the adults who know this is happening care, at all. They think it is just fine and will help her career to be raped by this man..she is old enough to make her own decisions, who cares. No one even stops to think that she is well under the age of consent, even if she *did* want to be with him, she isn't legally capable of making that decision, so her desires mean nothing. It is up to her siblings to figure out where she is and ride in to save her. Based on what happened, Philip shouldn't have gone to trial, but we don't even get to find out what happened. All we are told is that a trial will happen and that Philip says that once it is all over, he and his sisters will move to Oregon or some such place and put everything that happened behind them. Huh? While it does make sense for the kids to get the heck away from their parents and every other adult they know, this is an unsatisfying and lame way to end this book. So many pages wasted on telling us what people are wearing and how beautiful they are, but not another page could be written for a satisfying ending? What a cop out.
The choice of the male reader for the audio version of this book was a poor one. He has a nice voice, but he is much older than 15, so the voice of Philip was always off. It didn't help that Philip spent way too much time at the beginning of his part of the story talking about how beautiful his sisters are, especially his favorite, Amelia. I don't have any brothers, but I can imagine that if I did I would find it creepy as hell if he spent a lot of time thinking about what a great body I have or how gorgeous I am. That was over the line, as was the insistence on stating over and over again just how GORGEOUS Amelia, Polly and Daria are. Ridiculous.
As for the story itself, oh boy. Every single adult in this book is a horrible, horrible person. I truly hope they are intended to be caricatures because if they are supposed to be based on real people, we as a society are certainly doomed. The mother of the Heller kids is especially awful. Not only does she throw her son away, handing him over to his equally terrible father, for no good reason, she also turned a blind eye to the fact that one of her daughters was repeatedly molested by the same father and she allows grown men to fondle her daughters, ply them with drinks and doesn't care whether they go to school or not. I kept screaming in my head and even out loud in my car that Amelia is on l 14!! 14!! yet she was basically forced to drop out of high school, become a model against her will, stay out until all hours of the night drinking with grown men without any adult supervision and basically figure out how to care for herself - not because she wanted to do any of this, like Polly and Daria did, but because it was what her mother wanted.
The structure of this book was also a bit off. Since all of the characters tell their part of the story in past tense, as if they are recalling this period of time for someone, I thought we would come to find out that they are all now adults, telling the reader what happened to them as kids, but that isn't the case. Having the same woman read the parts of the story told by Polly, Daria and Amelia also didn't help. She didn't change her voice at all for any of the three, so even when they various characters were supposedly talking to each other, it was hard to know who was saying what. Considering Polly and Daria were basically interchangeable as characters to boot, this made it all the more confusing.
The ending was disappointing, to say the least. We knew there was going to be an incident in a hotel room involving a gun, since that is stated on the book jacket, but the way it played out was a bit odd; again we have a 14 year old in a hotel room with a 47 year old man and NONE of the adults who know this is happening care, at all. They think it is just fine and will help her career to be raped by this man..she is old enough to make her own decisions, who cares. No one even stops to think that she is well under the age of consent, even if she *did* want to be with him, she isn't legally capable of making that decision, so her desires mean nothing. It is up to her siblings to figure out where she is and ride in to save her. Based on what happened, Philip shouldn't have gone to trial, but we don't even get to find out what happened. All we are told is that a trial will happen and that Philip says that once it is all over, he and his sisters will move to Oregon or some such place and put everything that happened behind them. Huh? While it does make sense for the kids to get the heck away from their parents and every other adult they know, this is an unsatisfying and lame way to end this book. So many pages wasted on telling us what people are wearing and how beautiful they are, but not another page could be written for a satisfying ending? What a cop out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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May 4, 2020Once upon a time, there were three girls and their brother.
Daria is 18 years old and is known for her height and her beautiful red hair.
Polly is 17-years-old and is known for her sassy attitude and her beautiful red hair.
Amelia is only 14 years old but she is also known for … you guessed it, her beautiful red hair.
And then there is Phillip, who is a sideline player as his three beautiful sisters are catapulted to fame after being photographed for The New Yorker magazine. Now the new "IT" girls, the Heller sisters each deal with their fame in different ways. Daria tries to manage it and arranges for an agent, Polly rattles off sentences of swear words and tries to be above it all. Amelia just tries to get her Chemistry homework done. And Phillip, well, he watches it all.
One night, the agent calls the Hellers to a New York bar to meet Rex Wentworth (he's really a famous movie star, but his name is changed in this story, to keep the author from getting sued), who wants to get an eyeful of the hot new talent. His hands get a little too hot, however, for Amelia, who bites his arm to get him to let go of her.
Each sibling takes a section of this book to tell the story from her or his perspective. If you like reading Gossip Girls, you'll like this book.
Daria is 18 years old and is known for her height and her beautiful red hair.
Polly is 17-years-old and is known for her sassy attitude and her beautiful red hair.
Amelia is only 14 years old but she is also known for … you guessed it, her beautiful red hair.
And then there is Phillip, who is a sideline player as his three beautiful sisters are catapulted to fame after being photographed for The New Yorker magazine. Now the new "IT" girls, the Heller sisters each deal with their fame in different ways. Daria tries to manage it and arranges for an agent, Polly rattles off sentences of swear words and tries to be above it all. Amelia just tries to get her Chemistry homework done. And Phillip, well, he watches it all.
One night, the agent calls the Hellers to a New York bar to meet Rex Wentworth (he's really a famous movie star, but his name is changed in this story, to keep the author from getting sued), who wants to get an eyeful of the hot new talent. His hands get a little too hot, however, for Amelia, who bites his arm to get him to let go of her.
Each sibling takes a section of this book to tell the story from her or his perspective. If you like reading Gossip Girls, you'll like this book.
April 19, 2020
This needs a trigger warning. Underage teenagers get assaulted and have their futures threatened by a company who represents the attacker, furthering and streaching out their trauma. It's a main plot point that is so casually written. For someone who has a traumatic childhood regarding harassment at a young age, or for anyone sensitive about power imbalance this book may be harmful for their mental health.
April 25, 2018
Dark, dark satire of becoming famous and what happens with that. Also a look at highly dysfunctional relationships (especially family ones), narcissism, the manipulative spin that pr/agents/press can put on any event, and the awful “games” people play to get what they want. Remembering that all the siblings are under 19 makes everything way darker.
October 2, 2019
Wow, this is quite incredible. I was enjoying some kind of relaxing chick lit but wow, this really turns into something. This was written in 2008 I believe but so fitting for the current ‘me too’ era.
January 12, 2025
For this book really in 2024 is powerful because you realize the power # metoo had. I had to look at the year this book was published…This kind of thing was the beginning of the end for these types of men and the horrible mother…Great novel of life here in Hollyweird!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2017
Timely read given the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal. It's fiction and it's funny but all too real.
September 23, 2019
I wasn't sure about this one, but I ended up loving it.
May 26, 2020
Four interesting perspectives on the same events with one thing in common- their mother. A decent book but for me the ending was lacking.
August 10, 2020
Interesting but not my kind of book.
Read
August 25, 2022DNF
February 24, 2023
Easy read
April 21, 2023
I couldn���t finish it. The characters except Philip were unlikable. I don’t really care about young sisters and their mother and agent vying to become the “it girls” and land modeling jobs.
Read
June 9, 2023This sucked so bad, I wish I could give it minus stars.
January 25, 2020
I would have liked this book more if it hadn't felt like everything was constantly dialed up to 11. It was so over the top so often that in the end, it was hard to appreciate the actual aspects of tragedy that were in this book or feel much sympathy for the characters after a while.
March 8, 2017
The playwright Theresa Rebeck turns her talents loose on a novel. I couldn't get enough. BTW, if you love theater, take any opportunity to see any Rebeck on offer. EG, The Scene, The Seminar, The Understudy, Mauritius . . . They're all wonderful.
August 19, 2009
When this arrived at the library for me I had a moment of puzzlement as to why I would have requested this particular novel. The cover is a bit off-putting. But two paragraphs in, I was hooked. Goodreads tells me I heard about this book from Deborah. Thank goodness she is my friend on Goodreads. Now I'm curious as to what she had to say about it, but I'm going to write my review before I read hers.
The voices in this story make this book. Particularly, the voice of the brother, Phillip, aged fifteen, who begins our adventure. Listen to this quote, where Phillip is meeting a famous middle-aged movie star for the first time. Polly is his 17 year-old sister.
I could read an entire book with just Phillip talking, but we leave him soon after his three sisters become "it" girls--just three more girls famous at first for their red hair and their beauty, then famous for being famous. After we hear Phillip's view, then each of the sisters tells us a little more of the story, from their point of view. What happens to the four of them is fascinating, funny and shocking. I couldn't help thinking of real-life "it" girls and wondering how many of them had similar experiences.
I would love to live in a society where sensible adults never let young people be pimped out to the the media like this, but in this book, it is the adults who do the dealing of flesh--and reap the rewards each time the girls are sold.
ps. A book with La Aura as a main character? Also something I would read. Please Ms. Rebeck, please?
The voices in this story make this book. Particularly, the voice of the brother, Phillip, aged fifteen, who begins our adventure. Listen to this quote, where Phillip is meeting a famous middle-aged movie star for the first time. Polly is his 17 year-old sister.
"...looking like Henry the Eighth with one arm stretched out along the back of the banquette and the other arm around Polly, his hand discreetly stuck down the back of her pants. It was spooky, really; he looked just like he looks in the movies, where he's always waving a giant weapon, and he looked really short. That's something I never considered, when I thought about meeting movie stars. Usually, when you see them? They're like four stories tall, on some giant movie screen somewhere. But when you meet them in person? They're actually just sort of people-sized. Which makes the whole experience kind of surreal, if you haven't thought about things like that ahead of time. Plus, if the guy has his hand down your sister's pants, he looks significantly less like a movie star, and more like your average asshole."
I could read an entire book with just Phillip talking, but we leave him soon after his three sisters become "it" girls--just three more girls famous at first for their red hair and their beauty, then famous for being famous. After we hear Phillip's view, then each of the sisters tells us a little more of the story, from their point of view. What happens to the four of them is fascinating, funny and shocking. I couldn't help thinking of real-life "it" girls and wondering how many of them had similar experiences.
I would love to live in a society where sensible adults never let young people be pimped out to the the media like this, but in this book, it is the adults who do the dealing of flesh--and reap the rewards each time the girls are sold.
ps. A book with La Aura as a main character? Also something I would read. Please Ms. Rebeck, please?
October 25, 2012
Oh man. Not sure why this book does not have a higher rating, it's really quite entertaining; in addition to being very sad. I think we all dream, if only for a few seconds, of what it would be like to be famous, but this book definitely highlights the negative side of it.
This book almost reads like a tv show, especially the ending, but I liked it for all it's semi-unbelievable drama and characters. I also liked the format of how this was written. Each sibling has a section of the book where they share their perspective on what was happening. It was interesting to hear each one's voice and then also how they perceive each other. I thought that was very clever as it made it a bit harder to determine who was being the bad guy in any given situation. What I didn't like was the siblings' relationship amongst each other; they seemed to run so hot and cold. Siblings fight and do not always get along all the time, but in some cases they just seemed to not even care about the well being of one another. I guess you could chalk it up to them all actually being kids that are unceremoniously tossed into this bizarro celebrity "adult" world where there are backwards rules and nothing really makes any sense.
Overall, this book was intriguing, entertaining, baffling and disgusting all at the same time. I don't know why I'm leaning toward 4 stars, but there could be some bias as I am one of 4 siblings and I could completely relate to a good portion of this.
This book almost reads like a tv show, especially the ending, but I liked it for all it's semi-unbelievable drama and characters. I also liked the format of how this was written. Each sibling has a section of the book where they share their perspective on what was happening. It was interesting to hear each one's voice and then also how they perceive each other. I thought that was very clever as it made it a bit harder to determine who was being the bad guy in any given situation. What I didn't like was the siblings' relationship amongst each other; they seemed to run so hot and cold. Siblings fight and do not always get along all the time, but in some cases they just seemed to not even care about the well being of one another. I guess you could chalk it up to them all actually being kids that are unceremoniously tossed into this bizarro celebrity "adult" world where there are backwards rules and nothing really makes any sense.
Overall, this book was intriguing, entertaining, baffling and disgusting all at the same time. I don't know why I'm leaning toward 4 stars, but there could be some bias as I am one of 4 siblings and I could completely relate to a good portion of this.
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