Kathryn Leigh Scott

As one of those girls who raced home from school every day to watch the original 'Dark Shadows' soap opera, I was delighted to discover this novel. Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played Maggie Evans/Josette duPres on the tv show has done a wonderful job writing the story of Meg Harrison.

Meg, an aspiring actress who supports herself as a Bunny at the Playboy Club, lands a much coveted role on a brand new soap opera called Dark Passages. Her inital excitement is dampened somewhat when she suspects show more that someone in the cast may have discovered her secret life as - a vampire. It soon becomes obvious that Meg has a supernatural enemy among the cast of the show.

In addition, Meg faces all of the 'normal' struggles of a young woman alone in the big city. The story does a great job of taking the reader back to the early sixties. For some readers the sex and supernatural elements may be too tame, but for me they were just right. Highly recommended, and I look forward to reading more of Miss Scott's books. show less

I've been a fan of the show Dark Shadows for over 20 years now, and I've read several of Ms. Scott's non-fiction books. Needless to say, I was very excited when I heard about this book. It immediately jumped to the top of my to-read list, and now that I've finished reading it, I must say - it did not disappoint!

The book is unquestionably a take off on the filming of the original Dark Shadows series, except with a real vampire right in the middle of the mix. The plot moved along swiftly, and show more seemed to be a string of small plots laced together by the central plot (that of Meg and her nemesis). Ms. Scott did a lovely job of balancing the severity of some of the situations with just the right amount of humor to keep the book from feeling too dark or heavy. I do wish there had been a bit more of a wrap up after the climax of the book, but at the same time, the fact that it occurs so late in the book kept me reading late into the evening to find out what happened!

Admittedly, folks who are fans of the original "Dark Shadows" series will probably have an added level of enjoyment of the novel; many of the characters seem quite similar to original cast and crew members, and even many of the minor events in the book seem to be nods to actual occurences both on and off screen (thanks to many years of DS conventions for giving me that background knowledge!) However, I do suspect that even readers who are not familiar with the original TV show could appreciate the novel. I'm working on convincing some of my friends to read the novel to find this out!

Thank you Ms. Scott for a lovely novel - I'm looking forward to a sequel! show less

I downloaded Kathryn Leigh Scott's 'inside story' after reading a novel about a fictional former Playboy bunny, which fascinated me. The unlikely juxtaposition of strong young women earning a lot of money while wearing bunny ears and a fluffy tail to work now belongs to a bygone era, but I still find myself captivated by the lifestyle and the personalities in Kathryn Scott's book. She describes the clubs, the recruitment, the training (perfecting the 'bunny dip'), the clientele, but mainly show more features personal accounts from the bunnies themselves. I was surprised - although I don't know why - by how many famous and successful former bunnies there are, including model Lauren Hutton, Debbie Harry, and actresses Susan Sullivan and Barbara Bosson. Lots of CEOs and computer programmers too!

The Playboy bunnies, in the US and around the world, were intelligent young women setting themselves up for life by working in a fun - and safe - environment. Yes, they had to wear a sexy little costume, but if I had been around then - and had the 'attributes' to qualify - I would certainly have swallowed my pride for the opportunity to be one of Hefner's bunnies! show less

At the outset it should be noted that I received this book as the result of a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a review, which follows.

This book is the story of actress Kathryn Leigh Scott’s journey in coping with the illness and death of her husband Geoff, from Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a degenerative neurological disease, and her life after his death.

Scott, who is best known perhaps for her roles in the American gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, writes of how the stable, show more apparently quite happy life she had built with her husband was turned upside down by his diagnosis. This aspect of the book will be very familiar to anyone who has been a caregiver to a person with a degenerative terminal disease, but she writes honestly and with a degree of self critical candor which is somewhat rare in this type of memoir. She clearly provided what was probably an unusually high degree of personal care to her husband unusual in people able to afford significant medical assistance.

She writes with energy and verve of travel she and her husband undertook during the period of his illness, and most particularly of trips undertaken by her after his death, especially trips to China and Cuba which are interesting in and of themselves.

This book is recommended particularly for people who are caregivers themselves. While not singular in any respect, this book will provide one person‘s experience coping with the trials involved and their aftermath.

For more about PCP, see

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_supranuclear_palsy

and

http://www.curepsp.org/ show less