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Banished From Memory
Cited as a Distinguished Favorite in Historical Fiction by the Independent Press Awards.
It’s 1960. Sixteen-year-old Dianna Fletcher has been accustomed to the bright lights of Hollywood all her life-but now they are casting shadows on her family’s past and on her own future.
Dianna fears she is losing her talent and failing to live up to her family’s legacy. When she does land a part, she finds an unexpected enemy in brilliant actor and womanizer, Bill Royce, who not only attacks her confidence but holds a deep grudge against her family. Dianna comes to believe Bill’s resentment is related to her suspicion that her parents harbor a secret linked to the blacklist. But even as their friendship grows despite their misgivings about each other, Bill will not confess what he knows.
As Dianna struggles with her career in a rapidly changing industry, she urges Bill to share his dark past with her, only to discover secrets that could destroy her family’s prestige and power.
Banished From Memory highlights the conflicted relationship between two legacies of the blacklist, the sunset of classic Hollywood, the challenges and gifts of acting, and a determination on the part of one generation to exhume the truth of another’s. But at what cost?
It’s 1960. Sixteen-year-old Dianna Fletcher has been accustomed to the bright lights of Hollywood all her life-but now they are casting shadows on her family’s past and on her own future.
Dianna fears she is losing her talent and failing to live up to her family’s legacy. When she does land a part, she finds an unexpected enemy in brilliant actor and womanizer, Bill Royce, who not only attacks her confidence but holds a deep grudge against her family. Dianna comes to believe Bill’s resentment is related to her suspicion that her parents harbor a secret linked to the blacklist. But even as their friendship grows despite their misgivings about each other, Bill will not confess what he knows.
As Dianna struggles with her career in a rapidly changing industry, she urges Bill to share his dark past with her, only to discover secrets that could destroy her family’s prestige and power.
Banished From Memory highlights the conflicted relationship between two legacies of the blacklist, the sunset of classic Hollywood, the challenges and gifts of acting, and a determination on the part of one generation to exhume the truth of another’s. But at what cost?
478 pages, Paperback
Published May 14, 2019
1 person is currently reading
1185 people want to read
About the author
Mary Sheeran
5 books31 followersMy first novel, "Who Have the Power," began when, after studying women's history, I wanted to explore why there was such a discrepancy between the world of, say, the American West as depicted in movies and television and what actually happened.
I focused on the Comstock Lode because I had grown up with the television show, "Bonanza." This series, entertaining as it was, got almost everything wrong about women of the West, about the Comstock Lode, and many other things. It took considerable time to write it, as women's stories began coming into libraries in the late 1980s and the 1990s. What took longer were stories of Native American women of the small tribes in California. Not that there is all that much now. The book both criticizes the invisibility of these people to popular depictions of the West and tells a story of how economic plundering just hurts everybody - but the truth will emerge eventually.
My second novel, "Quest of the Sleeping Princess," also began with a fascination - of the ballet choreographer George Balanchine. The story concerns a woman who is tending her dying mother, and her one respite is to go to the ballet. She creates a fantasy world that mirrors the Sleeping Beauty, and through the novel, I write about imagination and how Balanchine created his own world.
When I am not writing, I am singing or performing in some way. I've played leads in "Brigadoon," "Stop the World," "Picnic," "Cabaret," and in off Broadway plays in New York, where I also sang leads in small opera companies: Mimi in "La Boheme," Norina in "Don Pasquale," Marie in "La Fille du Regiment." I've sung many recital programs and lots of cabaret shows. The last cabaret show I did featured Tom Lehrer's songs. Then I went home to start working on "Banished." That took about six years - watching movies, researching the blacklist, revising, revising, and finally, done!
Meanwhile, a friend, Cate Simon, had gotten a contract for her historical romance, "Courting Anna." I had a romance sitting in my computer - for about ten years. I had gotten a series of rejections and then, as usually happened with me, gone singing. So I hunted the romance down and - it's really a historical romance, as there's a lot of history in it. It's related to "Who Have the Power" and I wrote it, perhaps, to try my hand at a romance and realizing that no one was reading WHTP. I found the book and started reading and couldn't put it down - I couldn't remember how I'd ended the thing. This book was contracted by Prairie Rose Publications, and it's name is "A Dangerous Liberty." It won the Romance category of the 2020 Independent Press Awards, and to my surprise, has gotten some enthusiastic readers. So if you have a manuscript hiding in your computer, do resurrect it!
I focused on the Comstock Lode because I had grown up with the television show, "Bonanza." This series, entertaining as it was, got almost everything wrong about women of the West, about the Comstock Lode, and many other things. It took considerable time to write it, as women's stories began coming into libraries in the late 1980s and the 1990s. What took longer were stories of Native American women of the small tribes in California. Not that there is all that much now. The book both criticizes the invisibility of these people to popular depictions of the West and tells a story of how economic plundering just hurts everybody - but the truth will emerge eventually.
My second novel, "Quest of the Sleeping Princess," also began with a fascination - of the ballet choreographer George Balanchine. The story concerns a woman who is tending her dying mother, and her one respite is to go to the ballet. She creates a fantasy world that mirrors the Sleeping Beauty, and through the novel, I write about imagination and how Balanchine created his own world.
When I am not writing, I am singing or performing in some way. I've played leads in "Brigadoon," "Stop the World," "Picnic," "Cabaret," and in off Broadway plays in New York, where I also sang leads in small opera companies: Mimi in "La Boheme," Norina in "Don Pasquale," Marie in "La Fille du Regiment." I've sung many recital programs and lots of cabaret shows. The last cabaret show I did featured Tom Lehrer's songs. Then I went home to start working on "Banished." That took about six years - watching movies, researching the blacklist, revising, revising, and finally, done!
Meanwhile, a friend, Cate Simon, had gotten a contract for her historical romance, "Courting Anna." I had a romance sitting in my computer - for about ten years. I had gotten a series of rejections and then, as usually happened with me, gone singing. So I hunted the romance down and - it's really a historical romance, as there's a lot of history in it. It's related to "Who Have the Power" and I wrote it, perhaps, to try my hand at a romance and realizing that no one was reading WHTP. I found the book and started reading and couldn't put it down - I couldn't remember how I'd ended the thing. This book was contracted by Prairie Rose Publications, and it's name is "A Dangerous Liberty." It won the Romance category of the 2020 Independent Press Awards, and to my surprise, has gotten some enthusiastic readers. So if you have a manuscript hiding in your computer, do resurrect it!
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 17, 2019
This book is for anyone who doesn't feel like they belong. However, it's very into technical terms of the behind the scenes of movie making. If that is something that doesn't interest you then you may want to check out some other books. As I had attended Full Sail University briefly, toying with the idea of television writing, I really enjoyed the behind the scenes. That was only a small portion of the book though...and therefore this is the end of the warning part of my review.
I must admit when I first picked up the book and tried reading, I didn't immediately connect with the story. It took about four chapters before I started enjoying the story.
The written descriptions were the best part of this book. Scenes came alive and I could visualize being inside the novel.
I felt the dialogue was good, but not great. Sometimes the speaking felt forced and as if the dialogue was pasted on the back of the speakers eyelid and they were just reading it, instead of speaking with feeling. And then you'd turn the page (or tap the screen in my case as I'm reviewing the ebook) and the next spoken part would grab your mind and be so beautiful.
So for now I'm giving the story 3 stars
The dialogue 3 stars
And the experience 5 stars
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
I must admit when I first picked up the book and tried reading, I didn't immediately connect with the story. It took about four chapters before I started enjoying the story.
The written descriptions were the best part of this book. Scenes came alive and I could visualize being inside the novel.
I felt the dialogue was good, but not great. Sometimes the speaking felt forced and as if the dialogue was pasted on the back of the speakers eyelid and they were just reading it, instead of speaking with feeling. And then you'd turn the page (or tap the screen in my case as I'm reviewing the ebook) and the next spoken part would grab your mind and be so beautiful.
So for now I'm giving the story 3 stars
The dialogue 3 stars
And the experience 5 stars
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
June 10, 2019
When I first received information about Banished From Memory by Mary Sheeran, it definitely piqued my interest. The book takes place in 1960 and introduces Dianna Fletcher, a 16-year-old actress. She comes from a whole family of actors and takes it very seriously. However, she has reached an age where she is too old for the child roles, but not quite mature enough for the young female roles. She is worried about being in the shadow of her family and losing her talent. However, not only that but it is a scary time due to the Blacklist. Fears of communism haunt the United States and when she does land a role, she and her fellow-co-worker, Bill Royce don’t get along. Everyone in Hollywood has secrets and will do anything to keep them from being exposed.
This book tackles so many interesting and important issues. Almost too many. I felt that it was trying to fit so much in that is almost smothers the reader. The 1960s is just the beginning of the end of classic Hollywood and I loved reading about so many famous names throughout the story. However, there are parts that become so confusing. I am a huge Disney buff and even though this famous family is fictional, she ties them to real events. For instance, Dianna discusses how Anne Foster (Dianna’s mother) is the voice of Sleeping Beauty, even though it was the lovely Mary Costa who voiced and sang the part of Princess Aurora. Dianna also mentions how she gets the title part of Pollyanna? If this is going to be about a fictional actress, the film should also be fictional. It just made things a little confusing.
The story was not as engaging as I hoped it would be. It is extremely dialogue-heavy, and mainly “he said, then she said” constantly. There was not a lot of emotion for me to connect to and it made the pace extremely slow. It also hinders the character development. While I do appreciate the author for tying the events to the 1960s and making the connection to today’s political climate and #MeToo movement, it just didn’t grab my attention. This is why I have to rate this book 2 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to JKS Communications for a copy of this book!
This book tackles so many interesting and important issues. Almost too many. I felt that it was trying to fit so much in that is almost smothers the reader. The 1960s is just the beginning of the end of classic Hollywood and I loved reading about so many famous names throughout the story. However, there are parts that become so confusing. I am a huge Disney buff and even though this famous family is fictional, she ties them to real events. For instance, Dianna discusses how Anne Foster (Dianna’s mother) is the voice of Sleeping Beauty, even though it was the lovely Mary Costa who voiced and sang the part of Princess Aurora. Dianna also mentions how she gets the title part of Pollyanna? If this is going to be about a fictional actress, the film should also be fictional. It just made things a little confusing.
The story was not as engaging as I hoped it would be. It is extremely dialogue-heavy, and mainly “he said, then she said” constantly. There was not a lot of emotion for me to connect to and it made the pace extremely slow. It also hinders the character development. While I do appreciate the author for tying the events to the 1960s and making the connection to today’s political climate and #MeToo movement, it just didn’t grab my attention. This is why I have to rate this book 2 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to JKS Communications for a copy of this book!
July 10, 2019
I loved this book. Given I'm European, I didn't know much about the blacklisting era of Hollywood, when (similarly to Nazi Germany, Khmer Rouge, etc.) people could be accused of spreading anti-government propaganda, while being innocent.
This novel successfully describes the era by putting a young actress, Dianna Fletcher, in the midst of the drama. A daughter of the Hollywood in-couple of the time, she moves effortlessly in the circles of Frank Sinatra, Katherine Hepburn, John F. Kennedy, etc., and is shocked to learn that some of her parents' closest friends have been suspected of being communists.
Ms. Sheeran mixes fact and fiction, which may be confusing for some readers, but she does explain this in the first pages of the book. The main characters are fictional, but act in real movies. For example, her father plays the lead in Ben Hur, but he isn't Charlton Heston. Dianna wins an Oscar for playing the lead The Diary of Anne Frank, but she isn't Millie Perkins. If you just accept that, it won't be an issue. I actually enjoyed looking up who the real actors had been, and what was real and not real.
The only thing that I could offer as a criticism is that Dianna Fletcher was a bit too perfect, and therefore at times unbelievable. Yes, she had doubts about her talent, but she was the best actress, the best singer, the best dancer, the most beautiful girl... She even mesmerized a crowd expecting Judy Garland at a JFK fund raiser with a one-hour solo show.
Nevertheless, this is an amazingly well-written book, full of detail, thoroughly researched, and highly enjoyable. I finished it in just a few days, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Old Hollywood, or just looking for a great new book.
This novel successfully describes the era by putting a young actress, Dianna Fletcher, in the midst of the drama. A daughter of the Hollywood in-couple of the time, she moves effortlessly in the circles of Frank Sinatra, Katherine Hepburn, John F. Kennedy, etc., and is shocked to learn that some of her parents' closest friends have been suspected of being communists.
Ms. Sheeran mixes fact and fiction, which may be confusing for some readers, but she does explain this in the first pages of the book. The main characters are fictional, but act in real movies. For example, her father plays the lead in Ben Hur, but he isn't Charlton Heston. Dianna wins an Oscar for playing the lead The Diary of Anne Frank, but she isn't Millie Perkins. If you just accept that, it won't be an issue. I actually enjoyed looking up who the real actors had been, and what was real and not real.
The only thing that I could offer as a criticism is that Dianna Fletcher was a bit too perfect, and therefore at times unbelievable. Yes, she had doubts about her talent, but she was the best actress, the best singer, the best dancer, the most beautiful girl... She even mesmerized a crowd expecting Judy Garland at a JFK fund raiser with a one-hour solo show.
Nevertheless, this is an amazingly well-written book, full of detail, thoroughly researched, and highly enjoyable. I finished it in just a few days, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Old Hollywood, or just looking for a great new book.
July 29, 2019
Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I grew up on old movies and often find comfort in the musicals and comedies from the golden era of Hollywood. It is for this reason that I selected this ARC, and in many ways Sheeran’s work did not disappoint as readers were transported to California’s movie set glamor and crossed paths with well-known legends. That being said however, there was just too much name dropping and too many nuanced references to the movies and actor/actress politics of the time that it was often hard to follow along with the dialogue path. While the loose framework of the ficticuous star-studded family did spark the imagination, without the full understanding of all of the roles they were portraying and the heightened sense of tension during the time even I as a millennial reader, with extensive exposure to the content of the decade, wonders how this book would translate to those who know abosuletly nothing about early Disney or like-era film studios and stars. Overall, although attempting to be light and fun this book was hard to pick-up and resume after each respite.
May 5, 2019
Dianna Fletcher is Hollywood royalty, a member of a family where her parents and brothers are all award-winning actors, too. In her 16th year, no longer suitable for the Disney vehicles she's been starring in, but not ready for adult roles, she finds herself at a crossroads -- and on the verge of growing up as she learns the truth about the Hollywood blacklist, hidden family secrets, and her own craft. Sheeran's research is meticulous, and she brings a time and place to life with vivid details -- at the Oscars, on the set, and at her family's homes in Beverly Hills and Malibu (not to mention an enviable hotel suite in New York City which could fit my apartment five or ten times over . . . . ). Bill Royce, the handsome young actor who confuses and confounds her, feels very real, particularly filtered through Dianna's perceptions. Movie stars abound, as do both John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, and, best of all, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Sheeran has believably embedded the Fletcher family in the midst of all of this. Dianna's political awakening is well-drawn (a Pete Seeger concert is one of my favorite scenes), as is her coming into her own with her craft as an actor.
January 18, 2021
Dianna Fletcher was a star born from stars (her parents along with her siblings were famous actors.) The movie set was her home.
As a child, she stole the scene with “her vibrant smile and wide tender eyes.” Her whole family acted by day and talked acting at home.
Lately, she couldn’t act anymore. The movie business was floundering. If she had no work, she had to go back to public school. If she couldn’t’ act, she’d be admitting defeat.
In this book, we enter into the world of vintage movies and timeless actors. The author does a beautiful job painting these lavish and starry scenes. Good writing. Perhaps a little overly descriptive and lengthy at times.
Interesting read overall as we follow Dianna around the movie scenes, watching her reclaim her old glory. A nice Hollywood coming-of-age story.
As a child, she stole the scene with “her vibrant smile and wide tender eyes.” Her whole family acted by day and talked acting at home.
Lately, she couldn’t act anymore. The movie business was floundering. If she had no work, she had to go back to public school. If she couldn’t’ act, she’d be admitting defeat.
In this book, we enter into the world of vintage movies and timeless actors. The author does a beautiful job painting these lavish and starry scenes. Good writing. Perhaps a little overly descriptive and lengthy at times.
Interesting read overall as we follow Dianna around the movie scenes, watching her reclaim her old glory. A nice Hollywood coming-of-age story.
July 9, 2024
When I read this book, two of my daughters were around the same age as the book's main character. Sheeran's memory of the complexity of the intellect and emotions of a gifted teenage girl is so much more apt than what is represented in so much fiction aimed at young adults, and young women in particular. She does not underestimate them. And of course, she gets to the core of a dark time in American history and the real and painful impact it had on so many lives. You can feel it in the nuanced reactions and interactions of her multilayered and well-developed characters. Each one of my daughters read this book after me and loved it.
April 12, 2019
I was a big fan of the main character, Dianna. It was refreshing to read a story about a girl coming into her womanhood in a time that was much more restrictive. I thought that Sheeran crafted an honest story that simultaneously gave power to women, and that explored the many ways equality can be reached.
April 12, 2019
I loved the film history in this book! I had never heard of the Blacklist before, and following Mary's writing through Cold War Hollywood was enthralling. I highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of film history, and anyone who wants a fresh take on a period that I feel is never written about!
May 1, 2022
I'm not sure how much of this writing is truly historical or a broad brush with fiction. Once I got past the self-aggrandizement, there were interesting characters but too much detail for me. When it takes me several chapters to get into a book, I give myself permission to scan and finish. Having said that, I'm sure there is something to learn about the television and movie industry.
May 19, 2019
Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.
August 23, 2019
Originally reviewed for Chick Lit Central (www.chicklitcentral.com)
Banished From Memory presented an intriguing and unique concept, with bringing in real-life celebrities and characters most of us are very familiar with, blending in with fictional people who feel true to life and more than believable. Not only that, but the celebrities we’ve come to know and often love have a voice within this story that fits their individual characteristics and mannerisms, an uncanny representation that aided in bringing forth Dianna’s inner struggles. I really couldn’t get enough of the nostalgia!
Dianna is the type of character who we hate to love, initially. Born with extreme privilege within a world that revolves around the silver screen, there are moments of brattiness and cattiness, showcasing her immaturity and inability to understand what’s behind the gilded curtains of her life. Yet, as her story progresses, we see her change and evolve, and while she still holds on to her youthfulness, there is a gritty edge that comes out when she begins to see the world for how it really is. This is due largely in part to her new friend and potential love interest, Bill Royce. I could feel the pangs of a girlish crush from Dianna, and the yearning he has for her, even though he feels as though it’s not right, and in some ways, forbidden. There is a lot stacked against the both of them, and a lot of baggage, which makes the reader feel torn about seeing them as a couple, bringing out the best and the worst within one another.
In reading about the history of the blacklist within Banished, I felt I learned a lot more than I ever imagined I could. While I knew of its legacy, I did not know the intricacies involved. I know the characters in this story are fictional, even the ones whose names we know well, but their stories and what they’ve had to endure is very real, a moment in our history that has not been brought to light in a very long time. Running alongside it are the various ways women were treated or “handled”, a time where certain behaviors were much more accepted than they are now, something that is very relatable to more recent events. Dianna questions all of it, and it’s from her perspective that we find ourselves asking the same thing that she does throughout the novel: What is a woman’s worth? It's in this that we really see the changes in Dianna and those around her, an eye-opening revelation worthy of discovery.
Banished From Memory presented an intriguing and unique concept, with bringing in real-life celebrities and characters most of us are very familiar with, blending in with fictional people who feel true to life and more than believable. Not only that, but the celebrities we’ve come to know and often love have a voice within this story that fits their individual characteristics and mannerisms, an uncanny representation that aided in bringing forth Dianna’s inner struggles. I really couldn’t get enough of the nostalgia!
Dianna is the type of character who we hate to love, initially. Born with extreme privilege within a world that revolves around the silver screen, there are moments of brattiness and cattiness, showcasing her immaturity and inability to understand what’s behind the gilded curtains of her life. Yet, as her story progresses, we see her change and evolve, and while she still holds on to her youthfulness, there is a gritty edge that comes out when she begins to see the world for how it really is. This is due largely in part to her new friend and potential love interest, Bill Royce. I could feel the pangs of a girlish crush from Dianna, and the yearning he has for her, even though he feels as though it’s not right, and in some ways, forbidden. There is a lot stacked against the both of them, and a lot of baggage, which makes the reader feel torn about seeing them as a couple, bringing out the best and the worst within one another.
In reading about the history of the blacklist within Banished, I felt I learned a lot more than I ever imagined I could. While I knew of its legacy, I did not know the intricacies involved. I know the characters in this story are fictional, even the ones whose names we know well, but their stories and what they’ve had to endure is very real, a moment in our history that has not been brought to light in a very long time. Running alongside it are the various ways women were treated or “handled”, a time where certain behaviors were much more accepted than they are now, something that is very relatable to more recent events. Dianna questions all of it, and it’s from her perspective that we find ourselves asking the same thing that she does throughout the novel: What is a woman’s worth? It's in this that we really see the changes in Dianna and those around her, an eye-opening revelation worthy of discovery.
April 20, 2019
I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review.
Ms. Sheehan has recreated the Hollywood of the 50's in her novel. At the center is a child star getting older from an iconic film family, unsure of where she stands not only in her career but also her life. The blacklist is in full effect and her family might have something to do with why her newest costar hates her.
Thick with behind the scenes details, this book is historical fiction for classic film fans. Visuals will leap into the imagination of the reader, yet the book doesn't get bogged down in the details.
4 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading.
Ms. Sheehan has recreated the Hollywood of the 50's in her novel. At the center is a child star getting older from an iconic film family, unsure of where she stands not only in her career but also her life. The blacklist is in full effect and her family might have something to do with why her newest costar hates her.
Thick with behind the scenes details, this book is historical fiction for classic film fans. Visuals will leap into the imagination of the reader, yet the book doesn't get bogged down in the details.
4 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews