Friday, March 11, 2011

Exit the Actress by Priya Parmar


Exit the Actress is a historical novel that follows the life of Ellen Gwyn, a young woman that starts out as a oyster seller and becomes a principal actor in 16th century London. The book is written as a diary, with letters, announcements and playbills thrown in. At first, it took some getting used to, but it really is the best way to read this story.

Ellen is an amazing character. She's smart, observant, and witty. She has no qualms about telling people how the world is as she sees it, even though that gets her into trouble sometimes. She's a character that I fell in love with. Along the way she meets a wide variety of characters that are all very well written and have a lot of depth to them. There are some that I absolutely loved and some that I wanted to strangle.

All in all this was a very good book. I enjoyed reading it and was almost sad to reach the end. This is a book with a heart and it really comes through.

I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.