What do you think?
Rate this book
Love & Fame
Susie Boyt's sixth novel is the story of the first year of a marriage. Eve a nervous young actress from a powerful theatrical dynasty has found herself married to an international expert on anxiety called Jim. Could it work? Should it work? Must the show always go on? This is a highly-strung comedy about love, fame, grief, showbusiness and the depths of the gutter press. Its witty and sincere tone - familiar to fans of Susie's newspaper column - will delight and unnerve in equal measure.
I so loved this novel, its originality leaps off the page and it made me laugh out loud. Seldom has an exploration of raw, profound grief been so entertaining (Deborah Moggach)
This is delightful and as tender as an accidental bruise. Boyt's witty, zingy, ping-pong dialogue dances with Astaire-like flair - underneath it lies the darker depths of grief that threaten to draw all her characters down into the murky waters of loss. I found myself praying that the cork floats of hope were still firmly attached (Tamsin Greig)
Susie Boyt has a unique perspective on modern life and close relationships, she is one of the funniest and most individual writers working today (Linda Grant)
Love & Fame is so rich and insightful, and the writing is beautiful. Reading it will help you survive your own personality. There's a special sort of merriment in the book and such a feast of particularity (Andrew O'Hagan)
A book that manages to be both clever AND cheerful! Who knows if you're allowed to fall in love with characters in books any more (or again) but Eve is the most loveable heroine who has walked across the stage of English fiction for a long while. Delivered with wit and brilliance leavened with a sense of tragedy just off stage (Alain De Botton)
I so loved this novel, its originality leaps off the page and it made me laugh out loud. Seldom has an exploration of raw, profound grief been so entertaining (Deborah Moggach)
This is delightful and as tender as an accidental bruise. Boyt's witty, zingy, ping-pong dialogue dances with Astaire-like flair - underneath it lies the darker depths of grief that threaten to draw all her characters down into the murky waters of loss. I found myself praying that the cork floats of hope were still firmly attached (Tamsin Greig)
Susie Boyt has a unique perspective on modern life and close relationships, she is one of the funniest and most individual writers working today (Linda Grant)
Love & Fame is so rich and insightful, and the writing is beautiful. Reading it will help you survive your own personality. There's a special sort of merriment in the book and such a feast of particularity (Andrew O'Hagan)
A book that manages to be both clever AND cheerful! Who knows if you're allowed to fall in love with characters in books any more (or again) but Eve is the most loveable heroine who has walked across the stage of English fiction for a long while. Delivered with wit and brilliance leavened with a sense of tragedy just off stage (Alain De Botton)
272 pages, Hardcover
First published November 2, 2017
14 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
About the author
Susie Boyt
16 books136 followersSusie Boyt (born January 1969) is a British novelist.
The daughter of Suzy Boyt and artist Lucian Freud, and great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud. Susie Boyt was educated at Channing and at Camden School for Girls and read English at St Catherine's College, Oxford, graduating in 1992. Working variously at a PR agency, and a literary agency, she completed her first novel, The Normal Man, which was published in 1995 by Weidenfeld and Nicholson. She returned to university to do a Masters in Anglo American Literary Relations at University College London studying the works of Henry James and the poet John Berryman.
To date she has published four novels. In 2008, she published My Judy Garland Life, a layering of biography, hero-worship and self-help. Her journalism includes an ongoing column in the weekend Life & Arts section of the Financial Times. She is married to Tom Astor, a film producer. They live with their two daughters in London.
The daughter of Suzy Boyt and artist Lucian Freud, and great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud. Susie Boyt was educated at Channing and at Camden School for Girls and read English at St Catherine's College, Oxford, graduating in 1992. Working variously at a PR agency, and a literary agency, she completed her first novel, The Normal Man, which was published in 1995 by Weidenfeld and Nicholson. She returned to university to do a Masters in Anglo American Literary Relations at University College London studying the works of Henry James and the poet John Berryman.
To date she has published four novels. In 2008, she published My Judy Garland Life, a layering of biography, hero-worship and self-help. Her journalism includes an ongoing column in the weekend Life & Arts section of the Financial Times. She is married to Tom Astor, a film producer. They live with their two daughters in London.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 8, 2017
Having enjoyed, “The Small Hours,” by Susie Boyt, I was pleased to receive her latest novel for review. The storyline revolves around Eve Swift, daughter of much loved actor John Swift. Although she attempts to follow him into the theatre, her initially promising career collapses. Retreating to a job in a bookshop, Eve meets, and married Jim, who is an expert on anxiety. Soon, the two marry and head off on honeymoon in Chicago. Having read Boyt before, though, I suspected that things were not going to be without difficulties and, while away, Eve receives news which devastates her.
This book is about many different themes and it has much to offer as both a personal read and for a reading group. Not only does the story follow the first year of the marriage of Eve and Jim, with all its difficulties, but looks at Eve’s relationship with her mother, Jean. Eve and Jean’s stories also intersects with that of two sisters; a grief counsellor called Beatrice ‘Beach,’ and her younger sister, Rebecca Melville, a journalist. Having lost their mother while they were children, Beach does her best to care for her sister.
Much of this story revolves around things which are often unspoken. Eating disorders, grief, loneliness, failure, and, in these days of social media, the fear that John Swift will stop being a father, a husband, an actor, and become a story… This is a very human story, in which Boyt juggles the various storylines, and characters, well. It also has the hint of tragedy about it, which really does keep the theatrical feeling of John Swift – whose presence is felt throughout – at the very forefront of the novel. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
This book is about many different themes and it has much to offer as both a personal read and for a reading group. Not only does the story follow the first year of the marriage of Eve and Jim, with all its difficulties, but looks at Eve’s relationship with her mother, Jean. Eve and Jean’s stories also intersects with that of two sisters; a grief counsellor called Beatrice ‘Beach,’ and her younger sister, Rebecca Melville, a journalist. Having lost their mother while they were children, Beach does her best to care for her sister.
Much of this story revolves around things which are often unspoken. Eating disorders, grief, loneliness, failure, and, in these days of social media, the fear that John Swift will stop being a father, a husband, an actor, and become a story… This is a very human story, in which Boyt juggles the various storylines, and characters, well. It also has the hint of tragedy about it, which really does keep the theatrical feeling of John Swift – whose presence is felt throughout – at the very forefront of the novel. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
August 19, 2018
The loss adjustors.
For a novel about coping with bereavement, this is a very funny read. But that’s Susie Boyt for you, an author adept at pulling at our heart strings while tweaking our funny bones, as anyone who has read The Small Hours can testify.
Eve, the daughter of a much-loved stage and television actor, marries Jim, the kindest man imaginable. “She didn’t have to perch on the edge of herself for him, as though on a precarious cliff.” Jim is writing a book about the value of anxiety and the irony is not lost on his highly-strung wife. Eve ditches the clichéd idea of Venice for their honeymoon, Chicago will be a more authentic experience. But as they fly back, bad news awaits. Meanwhile, two close sisters are still struggling to come to terms with their mother’s death years earlier. As the two stories intertwine, a psychological aspect bordering on the thriller-ish comes into play and one is compelled to read on.
Love & Fame is an intelligent and insightful read. Occasionally, the dialogue is perhaps a little too clever to be convincing (do people really talk like this?) but as the story develops, one becomes increasingly immersed and concerned for these and indeed all the characters. To me, this is the sign of a very fine book.
For a novel about coping with bereavement, this is a very funny read. But that’s Susie Boyt for you, an author adept at pulling at our heart strings while tweaking our funny bones, as anyone who has read The Small Hours can testify.
Eve, the daughter of a much-loved stage and television actor, marries Jim, the kindest man imaginable. “She didn’t have to perch on the edge of herself for him, as though on a precarious cliff.” Jim is writing a book about the value of anxiety and the irony is not lost on his highly-strung wife. Eve ditches the clichéd idea of Venice for their honeymoon, Chicago will be a more authentic experience. But as they fly back, bad news awaits. Meanwhile, two close sisters are still struggling to come to terms with their mother’s death years earlier. As the two stories intertwine, a psychological aspect bordering on the thriller-ish comes into play and one is compelled to read on.
Love & Fame is an intelligent and insightful read. Occasionally, the dialogue is perhaps a little too clever to be convincing (do people really talk like this?) but as the story develops, one becomes increasingly immersed and concerned for these and indeed all the characters. To me, this is the sign of a very fine book.
May 3, 2022
A moving story of love and grief centred around the loss of a father. Unusual.
October 2, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyed this book - not read any by this author before but will be trying the others now.
November 3, 2018
This review was originally posted on my blog: https://rathertoofondofbooks.com/
I have to be honest and say that I didn’t really know what this book was about when I was offered a copy, but actually I’m quite glad that I didn’t. I try and avoid books about grief and loss at this time of year but reading Love & Fame recently and finding it such a brilliant and cathartic novel has taught me that I need to be more open-minded.
Love & Fame follows people from two different families. The first is Eve, a very highly-strung actress who is struggling to find her place in the world. The second follows twin sisters Beatrice and Rebecca, who are very different from each other but also very dependent on each other.
The opening of this book sees Eve packing for her honeymoon and the way her anxiety is presented on the page was so true to how anxiety really is that it had my own heart racing at the amount of thoughts running through her head. I’ve suffered very badly with anxiety in my life and this is the first time that I’ve read a novel that truly conveys what it feels like. There is a moment later in the book that struck such a chord with me that I had to briefly stop reading, it really brought it home to me that not everyone feels like this. I could really identify with Eve’s anxiety – the way sometimes something causes it and other times it’s just lingering there waiting to catch you out when you think you’re doing okay.
‘What made you think of that?’ he would say. ‘I don’t know.’ she would smile. ‘You know how I’m always thinking about everything.’ ‘How do you mean?’ ‘Well, all the things I’ve ever said, all the things that have ever been said to me and everything I’ve seen and thought and felt in my life and it all sort of whirls around in my head all day long, and often through the night and it’s constantly going. It’s probably the same for everybody.’ ‘Maybe,’ he said.
Eve has married a man who is writing a book about anxiety and this a huge source of panic to Eve. There is black humour in her panic but I could really identify with her and found myself giggling at how ridiculous it all can be, and how aware of the ridiculousness one can be, and yet still the anxious thoughts won’t stop. While on honeymoon Eve gets the devastating news that her beloved father has died, and this sends her into such a tailspin. Grief and anxiety make for a really messed up time.
‘I suppose in a way you are in the loss adjustment business,’ Rebecca said. ‘A listening loss lessener.’
Alongside this we meet Beatrice and Rebecca. They lost their mum twenty years ago when they were young children and have dealt with it in very different ways. Beatrice has become a therapist specialising in treating grieving children, but Rebecca has remained stuck in her grief. It’s manifested in control over her eating and she cannot bring herself to even try and move through the grief, she wears it like a jumper. In some ways neither of the women have fully allowed themselves to heal from the grief, it lingers in the background of their relationship.
‘People wanted you to be upset when bad things happened in life, but if you got too upset they couldn’t take it, she thought. You’re a failure. You’re disgusting. Sometimes the window of what was acceptable, when it came to mourning, was so small.’
Love & Fame is a real slice of life. Eve attempting to follow in the footsteps of her successful acting father but her then becoming so paralysed by anxiety that she can’t do it is so believable. It’s the essence of being human that we want to be perfect at what we do, especially when people know what our dreams are and are wanting us to succeed but sometimes that becomes a pressure and the cracks begin to form. Losing a parent that you’re close to is something that changes you so completely and makes you see everything in a different light. As heartbreaking as it is it can be the catalyst for you to re-evaluate life and to find the thing that makes you happy. Eve seemed to be slowly finding her way towards this path and I was rooting for her to get there all the way through this novel.
Boyt has captured the essence of grief so well. She manages to show the pain of it in such an honest way, while also showing how it is broken up by moments of humour in the way others behave towards you. My mum died right before my 30th birthday and one of the most painful things on the day was the birthday cards that had a PS saying ‘sorry for your loss’. It astounded me at the time that people would be so utterly insensitive but now I can see the humourous side – I can just imagine people worrying about what to write and then getting it so wrong! We often don’t handle grief or grieving people very well but harm is generally not meant and Love & Fame captured this so perfectly for me. I highlighted so many passages in this novel, which is something I rarely do and I know this will be a book I go back to again and again.
Love & Fame made me cry, and it made me laugh. I found paragraphs that I had to stop and read again before continuing reading because it is so beautifully written. It’s a quirky, funny novel about anxiety, loss and grief and I absolutely loved it! I will be shouting from the rooftops about this fabulous book; I know this will be in my favourite books of the year so I’m highly recommending it!
I have to be honest and say that I didn’t really know what this book was about when I was offered a copy, but actually I’m quite glad that I didn’t. I try and avoid books about grief and loss at this time of year but reading Love & Fame recently and finding it such a brilliant and cathartic novel has taught me that I need to be more open-minded.
Love & Fame follows people from two different families. The first is Eve, a very highly-strung actress who is struggling to find her place in the world. The second follows twin sisters Beatrice and Rebecca, who are very different from each other but also very dependent on each other.
The opening of this book sees Eve packing for her honeymoon and the way her anxiety is presented on the page was so true to how anxiety really is that it had my own heart racing at the amount of thoughts running through her head. I’ve suffered very badly with anxiety in my life and this is the first time that I’ve read a novel that truly conveys what it feels like. There is a moment later in the book that struck such a chord with me that I had to briefly stop reading, it really brought it home to me that not everyone feels like this. I could really identify with Eve’s anxiety – the way sometimes something causes it and other times it’s just lingering there waiting to catch you out when you think you’re doing okay.
‘What made you think of that?’ he would say. ‘I don’t know.’ she would smile. ‘You know how I’m always thinking about everything.’ ‘How do you mean?’ ‘Well, all the things I’ve ever said, all the things that have ever been said to me and everything I’ve seen and thought and felt in my life and it all sort of whirls around in my head all day long, and often through the night and it’s constantly going. It’s probably the same for everybody.’ ‘Maybe,’ he said.
Eve has married a man who is writing a book about anxiety and this a huge source of panic to Eve. There is black humour in her panic but I could really identify with her and found myself giggling at how ridiculous it all can be, and how aware of the ridiculousness one can be, and yet still the anxious thoughts won’t stop. While on honeymoon Eve gets the devastating news that her beloved father has died, and this sends her into such a tailspin. Grief and anxiety make for a really messed up time.
‘I suppose in a way you are in the loss adjustment business,’ Rebecca said. ‘A listening loss lessener.’
Alongside this we meet Beatrice and Rebecca. They lost their mum twenty years ago when they were young children and have dealt with it in very different ways. Beatrice has become a therapist specialising in treating grieving children, but Rebecca has remained stuck in her grief. It’s manifested in control over her eating and she cannot bring herself to even try and move through the grief, she wears it like a jumper. In some ways neither of the women have fully allowed themselves to heal from the grief, it lingers in the background of their relationship.
‘People wanted you to be upset when bad things happened in life, but if you got too upset they couldn’t take it, she thought. You’re a failure. You’re disgusting. Sometimes the window of what was acceptable, when it came to mourning, was so small.’
Love & Fame is a real slice of life. Eve attempting to follow in the footsteps of her successful acting father but her then becoming so paralysed by anxiety that she can’t do it is so believable. It’s the essence of being human that we want to be perfect at what we do, especially when people know what our dreams are and are wanting us to succeed but sometimes that becomes a pressure and the cracks begin to form. Losing a parent that you’re close to is something that changes you so completely and makes you see everything in a different light. As heartbreaking as it is it can be the catalyst for you to re-evaluate life and to find the thing that makes you happy. Eve seemed to be slowly finding her way towards this path and I was rooting for her to get there all the way through this novel.
Boyt has captured the essence of grief so well. She manages to show the pain of it in such an honest way, while also showing how it is broken up by moments of humour in the way others behave towards you. My mum died right before my 30th birthday and one of the most painful things on the day was the birthday cards that had a PS saying ‘sorry for your loss’. It astounded me at the time that people would be so utterly insensitive but now I can see the humourous side – I can just imagine people worrying about what to write and then getting it so wrong! We often don’t handle grief or grieving people very well but harm is generally not meant and Love & Fame captured this so perfectly for me. I highlighted so many passages in this novel, which is something I rarely do and I know this will be a book I go back to again and again.
Love & Fame made me cry, and it made me laugh. I found paragraphs that I had to stop and read again before continuing reading because it is so beautifully written. It’s a quirky, funny novel about anxiety, loss and grief and I absolutely loved it! I will be shouting from the rooftops about this fabulous book; I know this will be in my favourite books of the year so I’m highly recommending it!
November 7, 2018
Beatrice, a bereavement counsellor, her sister Rebecca, a journalist, don't seem, on the surface to have anything in common with Eve Swift and yet, this nervous young actress, who comes from a well-known theatrical family are soon to meet, and when they do their worlds collide in fascinating way.
From the start it is obvious that Eve is riddled with insecurities, never quite matching up to the ideology of her talented, and very famous, actor father, and even being newly married to Jim, who is an expert on anxiety issues, is for Eve both a blessing and a curse. Beatrice and Rebecca have their own deep rooted problems, closely bonded since the death of their mother when they were children. Beatrice has always protected and looked after Rebecca, that they have a strong relationship which has continued long into adulthood.
Mostly Love and Fame is about grief and loss and how we cope in so many different ways, not just with the loss of people who are dear to us but also in the shared grief of past traumas and missed opportunities. And yet, it's not a sad book, far from it, parts of it made me laugh and smile at the absurdity of people's behaviour and reactions, whilst other beautifully written sentences struck a deep chord of acknowledgment. Love and Fame is an altogether different view of living with loss, and, for Eve especially, of coping with that loss in the full glare of unwanted public scrutiny.
Within the novel there’s skilful writing and some lovely observations, which, on occasion, I had to go back and re-read and like a comfort blanket, this sentence stayed with me “Loss lapped at her feet, it bit at her heels. She had made friends with it, bathed in it, wore it like an overall. Loss distinguished her.” I think we’ve all shared that emotion at one time, or another.
From the start it is obvious that Eve is riddled with insecurities, never quite matching up to the ideology of her talented, and very famous, actor father, and even being newly married to Jim, who is an expert on anxiety issues, is for Eve both a blessing and a curse. Beatrice and Rebecca have their own deep rooted problems, closely bonded since the death of their mother when they were children. Beatrice has always protected and looked after Rebecca, that they have a strong relationship which has continued long into adulthood.
Mostly Love and Fame is about grief and loss and how we cope in so many different ways, not just with the loss of people who are dear to us but also in the shared grief of past traumas and missed opportunities. And yet, it's not a sad book, far from it, parts of it made me laugh and smile at the absurdity of people's behaviour and reactions, whilst other beautifully written sentences struck a deep chord of acknowledgment. Love and Fame is an altogether different view of living with loss, and, for Eve especially, of coping with that loss in the full glare of unwanted public scrutiny.
Within the novel there’s skilful writing and some lovely observations, which, on occasion, I had to go back and re-read and like a comfort blanket, this sentence stayed with me “Loss lapped at her feet, it bit at her heels. She had made friends with it, bathed in it, wore it like an overall. Loss distinguished her.” I think we’ve all shared that emotion at one time, or another.
January 25, 2019
The two Financial Times columnists who made the paper unmissable for me were Lucy Kellaway and Susie Boyt. Sadly, they only now appear occasionally on the pink pages and I miss them both very much. Susie could take a trivial event in her life, recount it deftly and probe its meaning in an insightful way that illuminated one's own thinking, all with a lightness of touch that often reminded me of the most delicious tea time pastries.
This book is a treat. From the opening page with its truncated sentences, so like real conversation, I was captured. The dialogue is snappy, in perfect accord with the characters' personalities. And what characters! How I wanted to give Jean a hug as she struggled with the loss of her famous husband and the need to support her daughter Eve, devastated by the loss of her beloved father while she was away on her honeymoon. Her devoted husband Jim could have been too perfect in his solicitous care for his new wife but the tension between them over his project (a biography of anxiety!) shows that he has a steely core and will not abandon his intellectual position even for her.
Susie Boyt is very good at sketching environments - Jean's kitchen was easy to visualise. The plot is perhaps slightly less credible than the characters but serves to highlight the draining effects of anxiety, the complexity of loving relationships and the unexpected nuances of bereavement. Overall, the book is a testament to the redemptive power of kindness.
This book is a treat. From the opening page with its truncated sentences, so like real conversation, I was captured. The dialogue is snappy, in perfect accord with the characters' personalities. And what characters! How I wanted to give Jean a hug as she struggled with the loss of her famous husband and the need to support her daughter Eve, devastated by the loss of her beloved father while she was away on her honeymoon. Her devoted husband Jim could have been too perfect in his solicitous care for his new wife but the tension between them over his project (a biography of anxiety!) shows that he has a steely core and will not abandon his intellectual position even for her.
Susie Boyt is very good at sketching environments - Jean's kitchen was easy to visualise. The plot is perhaps slightly less credible than the characters but serves to highlight the draining effects of anxiety, the complexity of loving relationships and the unexpected nuances of bereavement. Overall, the book is a testament to the redemptive power of kindness.
December 26, 2017
Eve is the daughter of a famed thespian but, although talented, Eve pulled out of her West End debut through nerves. Now newly married to an anxiety expert Eve struggles when her father dies. Beach is a counsellor and her sister Rebecca a journalist, they have their sisterly spats but are generally close. When Rebecca writes about the death of one of Beach's clients it is clear that she had access to privileged information. Now pregnant and struggling to cope Eve confides a theory about her father's death to her counsellor but is shocked to read all about it in the tabloid press.
I found this book very difficult to enjoy, possibly because none of the characters are particularly sympathetic. Therefore I found it a chore rather than a pleasure to make my way through the prose. This is a pity as Boyt has a witty style with her journalism.
I found this book very difficult to enjoy, possibly because none of the characters are particularly sympathetic. Therefore I found it a chore rather than a pleasure to make my way through the prose. This is a pity as Boyt has a witty style with her journalism.
December 10, 2018
A typical Susie Boyt novel, full of wit, with clever and precise writing. The words just flow from the page. When asked the question "Like when people say make your hobby your job?" the answer is "Kind of. Maybe. Not sure. I might mean the opposite of that". There are times when discussions about anxiety and grief go on too long, but then a passage just over half way when a mother puts her sad daughter straight about the after effects of death is superb.
As the story progresses, so the intensity increases. A conversation between sisters was worth the price of the book alone. It would have made a great short story. I did prefer the author's "The Small Hours" but this was close.
As the story progresses, so the intensity increases. A conversation between sisters was worth the price of the book alone. It would have made a great short story. I did prefer the author's "The Small Hours" but this was close.
June 3, 2019
I found this a very unusual book. It was very hard to get into but, once I got used to the sudden changes in the timeline, it had sections of the funniest and cleverest writing that made it worth the effort. The story is original and so are many of the observations inside it. The reading was sometimes very gripping and other times very boring, with some very long, odd dialogues. It's therefore hard to rate this as my reading experience varied so greatly, but because it really moved me at times it's an absolute positive review.
May 25, 2018
2.5 stars.
August 25, 2018
Review coming on booketybook.com
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews