Becoming

by Charlotte Vale Allen

Sidonie Graham got married and allowed her husband Frank to be the center of her universe -- until the day she suddenly realized she was overweight, unhappy, and desperate to be free. At the urging of her bold, outspoken Aunt Claudia, Sidonie begins reclaiming her life. Unfortunately, the marriage and subsequent divorce have left Sidonie feeling misshapen and ugly, even when she no longer is. So when she meets Michael Quinn, producer of what he prefers to call "erotic films," she's primed to fall into something that can only end badly. And it does. Because Michael Quinn wants to make his dream of producing a "legitimate film" come true and Sidonie is perfect for the leading role. But is Michael Quinn's dream film art or pornography? And does it matter if the end result is the loss of a rather naive, lonely woman's innocence? It's a painful, humiliating learning experience for Sidonie, but she does learn. And, having discovered unsuspected strength within herself, she is at last prepared to stake a claim on her future and pursue her own dreams.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1978

About the author

Charlotte Vale-Allen was born in Toronto and lived in England from 1961 to 1964 where she worked as a television actress and singer. She returned to Toronto briefly, performing as a singer and in cabaret revues until she emigrated to the United States in 1966.

Shortly after her marriage to Walter Allen in 1970 she began writing and sold her first novel Love Life in 1974. Prior to this book's publication she contracted to do a series of paperback originals for Warner Books, with the result that in 1976 three of her books appeared in print.

Her autobiography, the acclaimed Daddy's Girl, was actually the first book she wrote but in 1971 it was deemed too controversial by the editors who read it. It wasn't until 1980, after she'd gained success as a novelist, that the groundbreaking book was finally published.

One of Canada's most successful novelists, with over seven million copies sold of her 30+ novels, Ms. Allen's books have been published in all English-speaking countries, in Braille, and have been translated into more than 20 languages.

In her writing she tries to deal with issues confronting women, being informative while at the same time offering a measure of optimism. "My strongest ability as a writer is to make women real, to take you inside their heads and let you know how they feel, and to make you care about them."

A film buff and an amateur photographer, Allen enjoys foreign travel. She finds cooking and needlework therapeutic, and is a compulsive player of computer Solitaire. The mother of an adult daughter, since 1970 she has made her home in Connecticut.