ELIZABETH AND MARILYN

A fictional retelling of the events leading up to the only known meeting between Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth II.

The book opens in 1956 as Marilyn and her new husband, Arthur Miller, travel to England, where she’s slated to work on a film with Sir Laurence Olivier, “one of the greatest actors in the world.” The filming doesn’t go as planned. Marilyn finds herself talked down to by other actors as well as film executives. Still often thinking of herself as small-town Norma Jeane, she struggles to become Marilyn. Yet, when she does manage to conjure a more glamorous self, she worries she’s alienating her husband by being too flashy. The book alternates between these first-person glimpses into Marilyn’s life with chapters narrated by Queen Elizabeth as she adjusts to life as a young monarch while navigating relationships with family members. As her husband, Philip, watches her rise in power, he gradually disengages from their relationship, leading to copious rumors about his infidelity and their failing marriage. Just like Marilyn, Elizabeth is portrayed as a woman whose ascension to power may be too much for the man in her life. As the book alternates between the two women—leading up to a meeting between them—we see flashbacks to their very different childhoods and are privy to their inner thoughts as adults, which are perhaps surprisingly similar. The focus on events preceding the timeline of the novel means the pace sometimes lags, while details of the 1956 setting are too thin to ground the book in its time and place. Even so, the author manages to explore several deep issues that plague both women, ranging from the gap between private and public selves to ambition, self-doubt, and loyalty.

An inconsistent but ultimately worthwhile tale about two highly romanticized historical figures.