Book Review: The Brightest Star by Gail Tsukiyama (2023)
Synopsis: From the time she was a little girl, Wong Liu Tsong wanted to be an actress and gets an opportunity to do so as a teenage when she is discovered while working as a movie extra. Going by the stage name Anna May Wong, she quickly rises to international fame. However, her Chinese American heritage and skin color continue to provide an obstacle to her dreams of being a leading lady who isn't typecast by racist Hollywood while her chosen profession creates a rift between her and her father.
Review: To be perfectly honest, I had a lot of doubts about The Brightest Star when I reserved a copy of it through my local library. While I am, as I've mentioned in the past, a fan of old movies and Hollywood history, I wasn't sure what to expect from a book that is based on the life of a real celebrity but told in a way that even the author describes as fiction.
Still, I gave it a shot while hiding indoors from the cold this weekend and it turned out to be a book I couldn't put down.
Since it is what I'd describe as factually based fiction with no sources cited, it was a bit difficult to tell where the lines of truth and fiction blurred. That said, the book introduces the reader to Anna May Wong that at minimum, makes you want to learn more.
The story is one of perseverance but also tragedy. Anna May chooses her passions over what her parents (especially her father) want for her and becomes relatively successful. However, she is also someone who was well ahead of her time in a world that just wasn't ready for her and the book does a good job describing that.
Telling her story from a first-person perspective was a bold choice that pays off. It made it easy to understand Anna May's frustration when Hollywood studios preferred a Caucasian actor in yellow face over someone who was of actual Chinese descent or how her love affairs with older men ended because they were afraid of their careers being over if someone learned of their mixed-race relationship (and much less concerned about sleeping with someone half their age or their wives finding out). The fact she was arguably the most recognizable Chinese American citizen in the world but still needed to carry proof of her citizenship was an added slap in the face.
The differences in attitude toward her skin color when she traveled to Europe were also interesting, with countries like Germany being much more openminded than the strict standards in American film. It made me wonder why she even bothered going back to the United States.
Her family relationship was also intriguing and, frankly, depressing, especially as her struggles with her father eventually expanded to other members of her family after her mom died. I was saddened by her isolation and equally angry at how her father cared more about what the Chinese press thought than his daughter's success.
At the same time, the author does do a good job of showing Anna May had her own failings, whether it was her decision not to attend her mom's funeral or a drinking problem that led to later health issues. It humanized the character (and the real-life actress she's based on) in a way that made her more believable.
Final Opinion: As I said, the lines between truth and fiction are a bit blurred and it's probably not a book you're going to want to cite as part of a history paper on Anna May Wong. However, it is an entertaining novel that does a good job telling her story from her point of view and is worth taking the time to read. As I said before, I couldn't put it down.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews about other celebrity books:
Book Review: Making it So: A Memoir by Patrick Stewart (2023)
Book Review: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle (2018)
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