The One and Only Vivian Stone

De: Melissa O'Connor

Narrado por: Alex Finke, Patti Murin

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in this enchanting novel about estranged lovers reconnecting over mysterious tapes found in an attic and the old Hollywood secret hidden within them.

After her grandmother’s death, thirty-something Margot DuBois prepares to sell the house quickly so she can go back to her predictable life in Santa Barbara. There, no one knows she used to write and how not succeeding wrecked her confidence. While cleaning out the attic, she comes across eight unlabeled cassette tapes. Unable to use the damaged tape player, she calls in a favor from Leo—her first love and first epic heartbreak—and they strike a deal: he’ll fix the player if he can hear what’s on the tapes. When they manage to listen, the two are shocked to hear the voice of comedic legend Vivian Stone. Why did she record these tapes and how did Margot’s grandmother get them?

Between listening to Vivian recount everything from her forbidden love for Hollywood’s leading actor, to working under a misogynistic exec, to her chemistry with her costar-turned-husband on TV, Margot and Leo fall down a memory lane of their own. Margot is inspired by Vivian’s tenacity and courage to keep fighting for the life she wants, but everything changes when Vivian reveals a secret tied to her past in this moving exploration of how it’s never too late to start over.

Hollywood's Golden Age

Fully immersive fictional autobiography of a 50s era up and coming starlet interspersed with a contemporary narrative exploring what happened to this woman who seemingly had it all. Both narrators bring it to life and set the stage perfectly.

So entertaining!

This title had me hooked from the beginning. Both narrators did an amazing job bringing all of the characters to life. Their performances are why I will always want human voices narrating audiobooks. I thoroughly enjoyed the story from beginning to end!

A lovely creation

Couldn’t stop listening. Interesting story lines, appreciated the light shown on greed taking precedence over actors’ wellbeing. A perfect book club book.

Lucille Ball meets Evelyn Hugo in this stunning debut

I loved this book! Though I have a physical copy, I listened on Audible because I drive so much and it’s just easier to devour books that way. This novel is Lucille Ball meets Evelyn Hugo, but I loved this one so much more than Hugo. Vivian is so much more likable and relatable than Hugo. You can’t help but root for her, laugh with her, and cry with her. And there were quite a few places where I laughed and cried. All the characters feel so vivid and alive, and the dialogue rings true to life; the book is beautifully written. It’s easy to see a lot of research was done about old Hollywood and she does a great job of showing the highlights and pitfalls of the business. I love the dual timeline and getting to learn about Vivian’s life along with Margot as she listens to the tapes. Sometimes with dual timelines, you become attached to one timeline more than the other. This wasn’t the case for me. Though Vivian’s timeline is more dynamic (as it should be, it’s her story), I was never sad when it cut to Margot. I was happy to be in both timelines and go wherever the story was taking me. This is a fabulous debut and I cannot wait to see what O’Conner does next.

An Engrossing Romp Through Hollywood

O’Connor’s characters are three-dimensional. Her protagonist, Vivian balances her dogged determination with a morality and fairness that keeps her from descending into ruthlessness or into a spiral of addiction and despondency. The buoyant support of her best friend is tempered by the trauma of being forced into a horrible situation by the studio. O’Connor also manages to convey the cruel misogyny of the studio executives without becoming pedantic. She also includes some enticing plot points that kept me on the edge of my seat.