The Brightest Star: A Historical Novel Based on the True Story of Anna May Wong
by Gail Tsukiyama
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Description
Arriving in Hollywood to become an actress, Anna May Wong discovers her beauty and talent aren't enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles and, over the years, fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts, and keep her illicit love affairs hidden-even as she finds global stardom.Tags
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audio historical fiction ~9.5 hours (silent film era Chinese-American international film star Anna May Wong tells her life story as she prepares to write an autobiography)
I generally don't take as well to historical fiction that is based on actual events, because it always feels too didactic: "This is what happened; this is how things were at the time; this is how I reacted." But Tsukiyama and narrator Cindy Kay do a great job of combining history with storytelling that is very readable and doesn't feel too forced, if fictionalized biography is your thing.
If you, like me, would prefer a readable nonfiction biography, and not have to wonder about which bits are true and which are fictionalized, I highly recommend Daughter of the Dragon: show more Anna May Wong's Rendezvous with American History by noted Chinese-American historian/author Yunte Huang, which gives careful and thorough attention to the forms of racism that were present in AMW's time and which affected her family and others, as well as a lively and well-researched account of her life. show less
I generally don't take as well to historical fiction that is based on actual events, because it always feels too didactic: "This is what happened; this is how things were at the time; this is how I reacted." But Tsukiyama and narrator Cindy Kay do a great job of combining history with storytelling that is very readable and doesn't feel too forced, if fictionalized biography is your thing.
If you, like me, would prefer a readable nonfiction biography, and not have to wonder about which bits are true and which are fictionalized, I highly recommend Daughter of the Dragon: show more Anna May Wong's Rendezvous with American History by noted Chinese-American historian/author Yunte Huang, which gives careful and thorough attention to the forms of racism that were present in AMW's time and which affected her family and others, as well as a lively and well-researched account of her life. show less
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Fiction Based on Lives of Historical Women
17 works; 1 member
Author Information
12 Works 7,365 Members
Gail Tsukiyama was born in San Francisco, where she later pursued her B. A. and M. A. at San Francisco State University. Tsukiyama is a lecturer at the San Francisco State University and a book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Tsukiyama has written Night of Many Dreams, Women of the Silk, and The Samurai's Garden. She is also the show more recipient of an Academy of American Poets award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Anna May Wong
- Important places
- Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 90
- Popularity
- 355,140
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.81)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 2
