What do you think?
Rate this book
The Transformation
Three completely different women thrown together by circumstance - and each involved in a ritual murder so bizarre that it could only happen today.
LOUISE - was young and innocent when she arrived in Hollywood hoping to become an actress. Then she married superstar Johnathan Fellows and her life was transformed.
DINI - was always on the fringes of success. Here scene was pornographic movies, orgies and blackmail. But more than anything else she wanted desperately to become a star.
BAMBI - was a spoiled, mixed-up kid afraid of love but dangerously involved with a man obsessed by the world of black magic.
LOUISE - was young and innocent when she arrived in Hollywood hoping to become an actress. Then she married superstar Johnathan Fellows and her life was transformed.
DINI - was always on the fringes of success. Here scene was pornographic movies, orgies and blackmail. But more than anything else she wanted desperately to become a star.
BAMBI - was a spoiled, mixed-up kid afraid of love but dangerously involved with a man obsessed by the world of black magic.
- GenresHorror
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
1 person is currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Joy Fielding
121 books2,186 followersJoy Fielding (née Tepperman; born March 18, 1945) is a Canadian novelist and actress. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1966, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. As Joy Tepperman, she had a brief acting career, appearing in the film Winter Kept Us Warm (1965) and in an episode of Gunsmoke. She later changed her last name to Fielding (after Henry Fielding) and began writing novels.
Fielding is also the screenwriter of the television film Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story.
At the age of 8, Joy Tepperman wrote her first story and sent it into a local magazine, and at age 12 sent in her first TV script, however both were rejected. She had a brief acting career, eventually giving it up to write full-time in 1972. She has published to date 22 novels, two of which were converted into film. Fielding's process of having an idea to the point the novel is finished generally takes a year, the writing itself taking four to eight months. Joy Fielding sets most of her novels in American cities such as Boston and Chicago. She has said that she prefers to set her novels in "big American cities, [as the] landscape seems best for [her] themes of urban alienation and loss of identity. Fielding is a Canadian citizen. Her husband's name is Warren, and they have two daughters, Annie and Shannon. They have property in Toronto, Ontario, as well as Palm Beach, Florida.
Fielding had an interview with the Vancouver Sun in 2007, just after her publication of Heartstopper. She enjoys catching readers off guard with the endings of her stories, but insists that "[it] isn't what her fiction is about", but rather more about the development of her characters. Discussing her novels with the Toronto Star in 2008, she said "I might not write fiction in the literary sense. But I write very well. My characters are good. My dialog is good. And my stories are really involving. I'm writing exactly the kind of books I like to write. And they're the kind of books I like to read. They're popular commercial fiction. That's what they are."
Fielding has been noted as a novelist who is more popular in the United States and foreign countries, rather than in her native Canada. For example, the novel Kiss Mommy Goodbye was more popular in the States, and See Jane Run in Germany. In addition, she had an American agent and publisher, although she has now switched to a Canadian publisher.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1966, with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. As Joy Tepperman, she had a brief acting career, appearing in the film Winter Kept Us Warm (1965) and in an episode of Gunsmoke. She later changed her last name to Fielding (after Henry Fielding) and began writing novels.
Fielding is also the screenwriter of the television film Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story.
At the age of 8, Joy Tepperman wrote her first story and sent it into a local magazine, and at age 12 sent in her first TV script, however both were rejected. She had a brief acting career, eventually giving it up to write full-time in 1972. She has published to date 22 novels, two of which were converted into film. Fielding's process of having an idea to the point the novel is finished generally takes a year, the writing itself taking four to eight months. Joy Fielding sets most of her novels in American cities such as Boston and Chicago. She has said that she prefers to set her novels in "big American cities, [as the] landscape seems best for [her] themes of urban alienation and loss of identity. Fielding is a Canadian citizen. Her husband's name is Warren, and they have two daughters, Annie and Shannon. They have property in Toronto, Ontario, as well as Palm Beach, Florida.
Fielding had an interview with the Vancouver Sun in 2007, just after her publication of Heartstopper. She enjoys catching readers off guard with the endings of her stories, but insists that "[it] isn't what her fiction is about", but rather more about the development of her characters. Discussing her novels with the Toronto Star in 2008, she said "I might not write fiction in the literary sense. But I write very well. My characters are good. My dialog is good. And my stories are really involving. I'm writing exactly the kind of books I like to write. And they're the kind of books I like to read. They're popular commercial fiction. That's what they are."
Fielding has been noted as a novelist who is more popular in the United States and foreign countries, rather than in her native Canada. For example, the novel Kiss Mommy Goodbye was more popular in the States, and See Jane Run in Germany. In addition, she had an American agent and publisher, although she has now switched to a Canadian publisher.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 27, 2017
The Valley of the Dolls meets Helter Skelter in Joy Fielding’s early novel (that she has since disowned). Young actresses on the hustle in LA fall under the influence of their great god, Tony, who says things like “To love your family, you must kill them,” and “I want to look into your soul,” before encouraging his glamorous young followers to break into homes, write things on the sleeping homeowners in magic marker, and poop on their carpets. Almost every single major character gets gruesomely murdered in a cold-blooded, final, Tate-Labianca style home invasion, leaving readers as shocked as the characters. Coming only five years after Charles Manson was sentenced to death (reduced to life without parole a year later) you can only stand back and admire Fielding’s willingness to go there. Also admirable is Ron Sauber’s classy Hollywood Babylon cover art.
September 13, 2023
Joy Fielding’s book The Transformation has been on my radar sometime now, thanks to the blurb about it in Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell. When I was able to track it down for a NOT INSANE price, (still the most I’ve ever paid for a book -$30) I jumped for it. I just finished it last night and I think what shocked me most, besides how much I loved this book (easily one of my top 5 books ever), was how much Joy Fielding did NOT want me to read it. So join me in this fun little journey of sex, success, satanism, and MESS while I tell you about this obscure vintage horror book.
Full disclosure: I like 98% only read this book because the author disowned it, disavowed it, discouraged others to track it down. I’m messy, it’s one of my “quirks.” (Also: don’t tell me what to do, I’m a contrarian & a Scorpio rising.) The other 2% was because I read it was about a satanic cult & I love me a good cult. (Refer back to me being messy.) I’ve included a statement from the author’s page instructing us to not read this book as well as 2 other books I didn’t even know about which were immediately 👏🏽 added 👏🏽 to 👏🏽 cart.
So here we go, a book that came out during the satanic panic era of fiction/horror. Only 5~ years after the Helter Skelter Manson Family murders & is a near perfect retelling of events that took place. Pretty ballsy Joy, pretty ballsy. To those who know Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you could have told me this was a prequel & I would have believed you 100%. We follow 3 different Hollywood starlets in Old Hollywood: Karen, nee Louise, a Hollywood ingenue that would do anything to make it; Dini, the face of new Hollywood emerging from the porn industry; Bambi, the coddled rich kid trying to escape her nepotism in the arms of a cult leader. I mean, SOLD, right?! What ensues is 3 different paths that take some ostentatious twists & turns: home invasions, sex tapes, headless decomposing corpses, blackmail, sacrificial murders, and many other cutthroat practices necessary to secure fame & fortune in Tinseltown.
Included in the cast: a reigning queen of the silver screen who’s still got some fight in her; an oddly familiar cult leader who teaches his followers how to “love” their victims to death; a sassy gay assistant; cult members who will vandalize, murder, and defecate on command if their leader wills it. There are so many great soap opera moments, especially towards the end. I was reveling in the catty, shady play-by-plays juxtaposed by insanely fucked-up cult diablerie. (new word unlocked!) This was a captivating story in itself, but the horror element was knowing ultimately, it would all end in a bloodbath. A truly epic night/crime-scene to remember & stupendous ending to this book.
Dear Miss Fielding, I’m sorry you didn’t want me to read this book or scream for others to FIND THIS BOOK but I think it would be a travesty if I didn’t. I’m disappointed if you truly stopped writing like this, because I personally would eat it UP. Thank you for this wonderful piece of literature that I enjoyed immensely.
P.s. If you want this review taken down, @ me for my Venmo. 💋
http://www.joyfielding.com/fans
Full disclosure: I like 98% only read this book because the author disowned it, disavowed it, discouraged others to track it down. I’m messy, it’s one of my “quirks.” (Also: don’t tell me what to do, I’m a contrarian & a Scorpio rising.) The other 2% was because I read it was about a satanic cult & I love me a good cult. (Refer back to me being messy.) I’ve included a statement from the author’s page instructing us to not read this book as well as 2 other books I didn’t even know about which were immediately 👏🏽 added 👏🏽 to 👏🏽 cart.
So here we go, a book that came out during the satanic panic era of fiction/horror. Only 5~ years after the Helter Skelter Manson Family murders & is a near perfect retelling of events that took place. Pretty ballsy Joy, pretty ballsy. To those who know Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you could have told me this was a prequel & I would have believed you 100%. We follow 3 different Hollywood starlets in Old Hollywood: Karen, nee Louise, a Hollywood ingenue that would do anything to make it; Dini, the face of new Hollywood emerging from the porn industry; Bambi, the coddled rich kid trying to escape her nepotism in the arms of a cult leader. I mean, SOLD, right?! What ensues is 3 different paths that take some ostentatious twists & turns: home invasions, sex tapes, headless decomposing corpses, blackmail, sacrificial murders, and many other cutthroat practices necessary to secure fame & fortune in Tinseltown.
Included in the cast: a reigning queen of the silver screen who’s still got some fight in her; an oddly familiar cult leader who teaches his followers how to “love” their victims to death; a sassy gay assistant; cult members who will vandalize, murder, and defecate on command if their leader wills it. There are so many great soap opera moments, especially towards the end. I was reveling in the catty, shady play-by-plays juxtaposed by insanely fucked-up cult diablerie. (new word unlocked!) This was a captivating story in itself, but the horror element was knowing ultimately, it would all end in a bloodbath. A truly epic night/crime-scene to remember & stupendous ending to this book.
Dear Miss Fielding, I’m sorry you didn’t want me to read this book or scream for others to FIND THIS BOOK but I think it would be a travesty if I didn’t. I’m disappointed if you truly stopped writing like this, because I personally would eat it UP. Thank you for this wonderful piece of literature that I enjoyed immensely.
P.s. If you want this review taken down, @ me for my Venmo. 💋
http://www.joyfielding.com/fans
psychological-novels-to-read
August 12, 2016The Transformation centers around three young girls in Hollywood. In the midst of the stories of each girl, a cult is at the centre.
This is one of the few very early works by Joy now out of Print and very hard to find.
This is one of the few very early works by Joy now out of Print and very hard to find.
February 19, 2021
I remember picking up this book when I was around 14 or 15 and recall how unsettling it was. Sadly, I had eventually given my copy to my aunt, who was a fan of Fielding, but she eventually gave the book away. To this day, I recall the unsettling nature of the book, but as it has been so long, I no longer recall the details. I've considered trying to pick it up again just to see what I think almost 40 years later, but being OOP, it's not easy to find anymore. Date read is an estimate....it was between 1981-1984.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews