The Blonde - Softcover

Godbersen, Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1602862818 ISBN 13: 9781602862814

Publisher: Hachette Books, 2015

Synopsis

At the height of the Cold War, Marilyn Monroe was the most infamous woman in the world. But what if she was also a secret Soviet spy?

In 1947, a young, unknown Norma Jeane Baker meets a mysterious man in Los Angeles who transforms her into Marilyn Monroe, the star. Twelve years later he comes back for his repayment, and Marilyn is given her first assignment from the KGB: uncover something about JFK that no one else knows.

But a simple job turns complicated when Marilyn falls in love with the bright young President, and learns of plans to assassinate Kennedy. More than anything, Marilyn wants to escape her Soviet handlers and save her love—and herself. Desperate, ruthless and brilliant, what she does next will leave readers reeling.

From New York Times bestselling author Anna Godbersen comes a whip-smart re-imagining of the life of Marilyn Monroe, set in a world of silver screen glamour and political intrigue. At once a crackling portrayal of Old Hollywood, an intimate portrait of the larger-than-life star, and a cat-and-mouse thriller, The Blonde is history rewritten as it could have—and might have been.

About this title

About the Author:

Anna Godbersen is the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe and Bright Young Things. Anna grew up in Berkeley, California, graduated from Barnard College, and lives and writes in Brooklyn, New York.

From Booklist:

What if Marilyn Monroe had been a Soviet spy sent to seduce JFK and to coax out his secrets? Here the blonde bombshell is initially recruited as a teenager and set on the road to stardom until payment comes due at the height of the Cold War in 1959. Then, lured further by the promise of meeting the father she never knew, Marilyn sets out to snare the charismatic senator from Massachusetts, letting nature, along with her lush body, take its course. What she doesn’t bank on is falling in love. In Godbersen’s telling, Marilyn is street smart under her veneer of naïveté (with an agent assigned to her in Hoover’s FBI); Kennedy is a reckless womanizer reined in by brother Bobby; and both JFK and MM find their affair turning unexpectedly emotional. In her adult-fiction debut, YA author Godbersen puts her own spin on history, as a love story with a twist turns thriller. More fodder for the insatiably curious followers of both these larger-than-life main characters. --Michele Leber

About this edition

• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1602862818
• ISBN 13: 9781602862814
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400