By turns fascinating and deeply sad, Anthony Summers goes to deep lengths to try and discover who Marilyn Monroe really was.
It has taken me a while to get around to reading Anthony Summers biography on Marilyn Monroe, but following on from recently rewatching Netflix’s The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes , I was intrigued to read what Summers had to say about her life.
Through a wide range of sources (admittedly as in a lot of cases some more dubious than others), this engaging and poignant read, really focuses more on her relationship with those around her, trying to delve deep into her personality to bring the famous star back to life in many ways. By predominantly focusing on her adult life, ‘Goddess’ brings to sharp focus her fears, anguish, determination, talent so vividly that there are many times that it is almost painful to read – but it stays almost neatly clear as to how and why she reacted and acted the way she did in many scenarios.
Although Summers tries to offer a psychological perspective, there are only fleeting references to her childhood which would have added a bit more of a fuller explanation. It just feels as though the focus of the book is more on the more sensational aspects of her behaviour. This being said, the reader does get a sense of her vulnerability and the huge variety of sources that Summers had access to in creating the book is impressive.
There is a real consistency to the way in which the book has been written and you can really tell how deeply researched it has been – but there does seem a real focus on her intimate relationships with men in her life that seems to have been highlighted (understandable in many ways given how popular of a star she was) but I was left wanting to understand more about her relationships with people as a whole and how every circumstance in her life made an impact on her. But perhaps that is the point of the allure of Marilyn Monroe – we can never truly know who she was as she seems to be afraid to have shown her real self, hence the creation of ‘Marilyn Monroe’ from Norma Jean.
While the first half of the book seems focused on her rise to fame and her determination to become a great actress no matter what the cost was, the second becomes a little more political and seems more focused on the Kennedy brothers which while fascinating (and important into exploring her tragic demise), it feels to overshadow her story a tad too much. The overriding feel of this section of the book is a little bit sleazy and dark – despite making some good points out of the conflicting stories that are told about her final days particularly.
It is a fascinating read, but as a writer Summers is very detached from the subject in many ways – we the reader deserve to understand Marilyn’s state of mind and how her childhood impacted on her in many ways, but it feels as though here her mental health struggles are slightly overlooked. Yet somehow by the end, I was still able to have plenty of empathy (based on another book that I have read on her life) and stronger idea of how she was used and abused in so many ways by the powerful people who surrounded her. The variety of sources to create this book is impressive and you can get a real sense of the psychological approach that Summers wanted to take but somehow the lack of empathy or attempt to understand her from a human perspective can make it feel a bit cold.
A worthy read overall, but it is also a very dark outlook on one of Hollywood’s brightest stars.
By Emma Clarendon
Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe is available to buy.
Rating: ❤️❤️❤️