Frida Slattery As Herself: A Novel

by Ana Kinsella

A sweeping, witty, and wise novel following an actress and a writer-director—told through the plays they make together and the time they spend apart 

You could probably run cities on the energy generated between directors like him and actresses like her.

When Frida Slattery and John Reddan meet in a Dublin pub in 2006, neither can imagine how they will come to shape and define each other’s lives. Frida is struggling to launch her acting career, while John is already gaining a name for himself as a director. From the first, they see in each other potential and the chance to create work that matters, though the lines between collaboration and exploitation, friendship and desire will prove dangerously slippery.

John decides to cast Frida as the lead in his next play, putting the pair on a path to success, fame, and critical acclaim. With the financial crisis looming, the next fifteen years take them from Dublin to London, New York, and Los Angeles, and through success and disappointment, joy and heartbreak. Careers are built, marriages made and destroyed, but through great distance and time, Frida and John can never quite shake the other. Though their connection is tested and stretched to the point of rupture, something remains that outlasts their work and the social transformations of the period. Tracing the complex, winding path of a relationship, Frida Slattery as Herself is an exhilarating, richly imagined examination of art, authorship, love, betrayal, and finding one’s voice.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Irish Literature, Contemporary, Ireland

496 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2026

Reviews

[My.bookish.diaries]

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
ARC received ✨

Thank you Ecco Books for the free copy!

Already obsessed with the vibe of this one and I haven’t even started yet 👀📖
Full thoughts coming soon 💫

[Madi Himelfarb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of advance netgalley copy— thank you to the publishers.

3.5/5, but rounding up on here. As someone who grew up acting and surrounding herself w/ (and hating and loving) creatives like both Frida and John, largely I enjoyed this read. Continuously though I wondered what someone outside of these worlds would think.

Loved the beginning and admired the end, but thought it sagged quite a bit in the middle. Respected the ambitious time frame and the amount of character development that was allowed to breathe within it. Lots of great stuff in here, and I’m excited by this author. But overall, I do think it was a bit too interiority-focused for me. And as much as I get that it’s *the whole point*, I was toooooo perplexed by (annoyed by) (unconvinced by?) F/J’s relationship that I .. didn’t care about their fates as much as I should’ve. A good reminder never to date an actor :’)

[Suki J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 stars.

Frida, a young actress looking for work bumps into John, an up-and-coming playwright in a Dublin pub. John is instantly captivated and ends up writing a part in a play for Frida, leading them on a journey to her becoming his muse.
From the start it is clear that their professional relationship, and what it leads to, is unbalanced., and the book does so well at exploring the complicated feelings that ensue, especially for Frida. Over time they move away and come back together multiple times, with there occasionally being a romantic element, but it is always uneasy.

The character of John made me uncomfortable, and I thought Ana Kinsella wrote him very well. He is a man constantly making excuses for his behaviour, while repeating the same mistakes over and over. The book covers a period of time from 2005 through to 2021 and the me too movement, although never explicitly named, is implicitly implied.

I loved how the book puts a spotlight on actors and Hollywood in all its messiness. This was a fabulous read.

[Shazzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Situationship story that stumbles wrt some important things. Could have been much shorter.

I received a review copy from the publisher.

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a lot of things well, but for me that only made the things it fumbled much more obvious. This is a book about art, about the fuzziness of creative relationships, and about the way MeToo shifted all of these things. It's not easy to do, Kinsella has given herself a really tough project here, but she can't quite deliver.

This type of work is hard for a lot of reasons. Writing about the arts and artists means getting the reader actually invested in this fictional art, and so much of the time that fictional art just doesn't translate on the page into something exciting. But Kinsella comes up with several plays that sound really interesting, where even when you haven't read the play you still feel like you have an understanding of what it is, what it's about, and why it is or isn't good. Hard to do, great work.

Following a relationship over a long period of time is also hard to do. Being able to have your characters really grow and change, create this life for them over decades that makes sense. Have them make mistakes, move forwards and backwards and sideways. This book is mostly very good at that, too. Frida and John's eventual arcs are not ones that are really easy to guess from the beginning. (Ok John's is, because, as this book understands, the path for a male playwright does have a pretty set path all things considered.)

And writing about patriarchy, gender dynamics, in not just artistic relationships but platonic and romantic relationships is really hard. Kinsella almost gets it. She comes really close. But just when I thought we were really going to consider the nuances of John and Frida's relationship, everything just kind of smoothed over and became flat. It was really hard to see all the years of ways they'd been separated by those gender dynamics only to not really reckon with it in a real way.

There is a lot of movement at the beginning of the book, but the pacing can struggle. Some sections really drag. And while taking this long consideration of their relationship does give you the opportunity to do a lot of things, it also leaves the most interesting section as this big turning point... that then never really gets addressed. Is this how life goes? Sure. Do we end up forgiving wrongs against us without ever really having it out with people? Yes. But I want the novelist to do something with that even if it is unsatisfying for the characters. This section--a play Frida imagines that she co-writes with John until he eventually takes it over and turns it into something different and gives himself sole writing credit--is the best part of the book because of this complexity, taking it away and flattening it out deflates so much of what the book worked for.

I did appreciate the way Kinsella has John attempt to reckon with potential power dynamic problems in his past. The way he cannot see the many times he was in a gray area feels very true to me, and I think Kinsella is smart enough to let the reader see what John cannot. But I can't help it. I wanted John to have to deal with it in a more real way!

I will definitely want to see what Kinsella does next. There is a lot here that I really loved.

[Amie Derricott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frida Slattery As Herself follows a young Irish actress trying to kick-start her career when she meets director John in a pub. Set over 16 years, the book is split up into parts, each one a specific time period and titled after the name of the play the characters are working on at that time. The reader mainly follows Frida to begin with, starting when she is still at university and performing small parts in student plays, when she is told to meet director John Reddan in a pub. From here starts an ongoing relationship between the pair, first as actor and director, to writing together, to a sexual relationship that appears to be the end for them both personally and professionally. As time goes by and they go their separate ways, we start to see more of John's life too, and despite attempting to go their separate ways, they seem to be continually drawn back to each other.

The postcard that came with my proof copy says "It's not NOT a love story" and I think this sums it up perfectly. At its heart is the love that Frida and John have for each other, that changes and grows throughout the time period in the book, but heaped upon that are so many other intricate layers. We see the way women are treated as inferior within the entertainment industry, and how it is assumed they will be the ones to put their career on hold for family and children. There is commentary on the way that women are routinely abused by men in perceived power, how it is brushed off that an actress is expected to perform sexually to gain roles or shouldn't shirk the advances of men as it will affect their careers. Misogyny is absolutely rife within the industry that Frida is so determined to break into. Not only do we see these subjects raised, but we also see how Frida, and to some extent John, face these challenges and what they are willing to compromise their morals for. This is an incredibly well written book and often faces these fairly dark topics with carefully placed humor. The characters are very real and this is absolutely no fairytale. They both have to confront their shortcomings and their relationship, both romantic and professional, is fraught with differings of opinion and strife, but also immense amounts of love and and understanding between the two people. Not quite the perfect novel as I did find it dragged a little in some places, particularly during the hiatus', but incredibly readable and would 100% recommend

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gorgeously written exploration of theatre, love, and ambition! Following Frida, an aspiring actress, and John, the director who quickly becomes fascinated by her, Frida Slattery As Herself throws the reader right into the magic that happens when an actor and a director understand each other profoundly – and into the emotional maelstrom that can happen when that understanding is combined with desire and love.
Frida was such a nuanced character that even when she had her selfish or self-sabotaging moments, I still rooted for her. John is a bit more difficult (I think an important underlying question of his journey is whether he wants to allow himself to be happy and make better choices or cling to the idea of himself as an artiste in semi-permanent emotional turmoil), but I absolutely understood why they were so drawn to each other. Ana Kinsella is a fantastic wordsmith, and there were so many lines where she captured the essence of Frida and John perfectly.
Being an Irish novel on a years-long will-they-won't-they, it's easy to see the Sally Rooney comparison coming, and in this case I actually do think it's warranted. I don't think you can separate the novel from its Irishness, for one thing, and for another, it's the kind of book where you want to underline almost everything with a pencil, not necessarily because it's beautiful (although it often is) but because it's so perspicacious about the complexity of human relationships.
I did dock a star for the slow-paced middle – I flew through the beginning and ending chapters, but somewhere in the middle, the book started to come close to losing me. However, I'm really glad to have stuck it out, and I'll be sure to keep an eye out for whatever Kinsella writes next!

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC ◡̈

[Lorren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed FRIDA SLATTERY AS HERSELF, a story that spans the career of actress Frida Slattery and playwright John Reddan. The deals with their lives as artists as well as their relationship, which vacillates between attraction, anger, and obsession.

At times, John’s voice felt more developed than Frida’s, and that was my major issue with the book. She was trying to define herself and her wants, while he always seemed aware of them, which may be intentional or some kind of examination of femininity vs masculinity—Frida was in constant evolution, whereas John was a force at times destructive in achieving his goals. However, I think Frida could have been better defined while still retaining that evolving sense of self. At the same time, being the same age as Frida is at the end of the book, I related to the way her view of the world and of herself shifted throughout the book.

The strongest part of the book for me was in the evolution of their relationship. I love a story that explores a long-term connection, whether romantic or platonic. This book did not stray from the negative aspects of the characters, which often drove them apart, while affirming their attraction and the reasons they kept coming back together. I liked how unflinching the realness of their issues was.

This is a lengthy but fascinating read. I think it will appeal to readers interested in creativity, complex long-term relationships, and midlife coming-of-age stories.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[jay ☆౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh, I loved this book so much. The best way I can think to describe it is sort of like an Irish ‘La La Land’. The story follows Frida, an actress, and John, a director, as they claw themselves into ambitious careers alongside each other. Frida’s character felt true to the experience of being a woman relentlessly chasing a dream, but losing herself along the way. John was emblematic of a determined craftsman with a specific vision for, and belief in, his art. They’re inexplicably bound but they butt heads consistently and their lives eventually diverge. We follow John and Frida as they age, through the tumult of fame, success, failure and family, until they find their way back to each other. Kinsella’s writing style is exactly what I want when I pick up a book and ‘Frida Slattery As Herself’ quenched a thirst I didn’t know I had. I recommend regardless, but especially if you’re a creative soul with creative ambitions. I felt really seen by it. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

[Amanda Fiorani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible!

Frida Slattery As Herself centres around the lifelong relationship between the title character and John Reddan, that is, between an actress and a director, between two artists, or a director and his muse. The novel is divided into chapters which mark artistic projects in their lives - some that bring them together in charged collaboration, while others drive them apart on their own journeys. The relationship between these two changes in nature many times throughout their adulthood, and it is electrifying. Their chemistry is palpable, and their influence on each other is so clear to them that it might just be the thing to drive them away from each other.

I love this book with a passion. These characters feel so real - they are raw, frustrating, flawed, and addictive. The ending really makes the book come full circle. I would love to see it get adapted to the screen!

Thank you so much to Scribner UK for the proof and for the e-ARC!

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a lovely surprise. I picked it up because I was craving an Irish novel, and was so excited about a story set in the world of theatre and TV between a man and a woman who seemed to be both wonderful for each other, and terrible at the the same. We follow Frida and John over 15 years, from seeing the initial sparks, to watching them create an iconic work of art, to eventually getting together romantically, and the epic fallout from that pretty terrible decision. As Frida moves to America to star in a law procedural show, and John has an ill-advised marriage to someone else, we slowly march towards the Me Too reckoning and Kinsella expertly gives us a fresh perspective of that moment in time from two very different people. I think readers will love this next spring.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Ecco for the ebook. In Dublin, in 2006, Frida Slattery gets a job in a play. That playwright, John Reddan, knows that he’s found his greatest muse in Frida, but he doesn’t just write challenging parts for her. He takes moments from her personal life and twists them into a play. This leaves Frida flattered, but also emptied out. It’s just a shadow of the story, so it’s her and not her at all. She takes an understudy job in London and John quickly follows and writes them a new play. But instead of doing it, Frida moves to Los Angeles and gets on a tv show. They spend the next ten years apart. When they both end up back in Dublin during the pandemic, they circle around working together with both fear and excitement.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frida Slattery As Herself is such a quietly intense exploration of art, ambition, and the kind of love that’s as inspiring as it is destructive. Following Frida and John across years of collaboration and chaos, it really leans into that messy 'muse v partner' dynamic. And it’s electric.

Both characters are flawed to the point of frustration, but that’s what makes them feel so real (and so hard to look away from). Their chemistry, both creative and romantic, is magnetic even when everything is falling apart.

The pacing dips slightly in the middle, but the writing is sharp, perceptive, and full of those lines you want to underline.

Messy, compelling, and a little bit devastating.

[Heidi Zuva · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Irish actress and the playwright/director who cast her in her first role dance along a will-they, won't-they that runs the course of both of their careers.

This touches on:
* power dynamics in public-facing careers,
* romantic entanglements as a grounding pole for narcissists (both protagonists, if not clinical narcissists, fit comfortably under the colloquial definition) rather than a result of love,
* the validity of different life paths (parenthood vs not, marriage vs not),
* gender and career

For readers of:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Normal People - Sally Rooney

[JH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to @scribneruk for this advance copy of this lovely book. My first physical book ARC and what a book it was!

I enjoyed following the lives of both Frida & John. They seemed made for each other yet so bad together all at the same time. All of the characters felt relatable in some way.
This book was well written and had me hooked until the end. I wanted to go to the theatre and see some of the shows that happened in this book!
Overall I enjoyed this book, only reason it’s not 5⭐️ is I felt it could have been a bit shorter but I would recommend it. 🥰

[Emily Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t wait to read this arc, but I believe it could have been edited down. I’m having a hard time with characters who are so unsure about their own sexuality and who they date. It seemed to not add to the character’s growth overall. It seemed to be an odd stopping point. I think the prose is wonderful, but some story moments felt unnecessary. Good ending though

[Babajaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am grateful for having won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. This is a well crafted character-driven story. It was fascinating to follow the two main protagonists over the span of 16 years, to see how their relationship developed over that time, how their careers took off, what they went through... I mostly appreciated how real the characters felt. I also liked the Irish setting.

[Maddie Marriott · Rating 3 out of 5]

received an ARC from NetGalley

There's lots to love here — the writing is gorgeous and the characters are real and interesting. The "Normal People" will they-won't they is a lot less compelling when the characters are adults who don't seem to particularly like each other, though.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up!

[Cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

Situationship from hell

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this.

[Madeleine Stormer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐️
Very good writing and character illustration, but just a bit too drawn out for me I think, especially when the story is so focused on just two people

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

i got a job!!!!!!!!

[Sophie Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight. Just gorgeous.

[Sherry Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

GOOD! GOOD! GOOD!!

[Victoria Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this intimate look at the artist’s inner thoughts.