Sophie Stark, an eccentric and gifted filmmaker, uses people during her rise from obscurity to award-winning artist. Allison's story of her white trash family becomes Sophie's film Marianne, but Sophie's version causes a rift in their romantic relationship. Robbie, Sophie's brother, always protective, even attends the same college where Sophie stalks Daniel, a star basketball player, with her camera. The result is a sensational documentary conveying this experience of obsession. While producing a music video of Sophie's first movie, Jacob tells her about his mother's death, only to find these intimate details in Sophie's next film. Jacob and Sophie later marry, but it is not a happy union. George, a successful screenwriter, hopes Sophie will direct his new script, Isabella. She accepts the project only to take advantage of his influential film industry contacts. Film critic Ben Martin reviews Sophie's works over the course of her career, but when Isabella is not reviewed well, Sophie performs one last shocking creative act, entirely in keeping with her unconventional and self-absorbed nature. VERDICT North's engrossing second novel (after her futuristic America Pacifica) portrays with painful clarity the life of a flawed but highly talented artist. An essential choice for literary fiction readers.—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Palisade, CO

The ending of North's (America Pacifica) provocative new novel is a foregone conclusion; it is the journey there, revealed by the intimates in Sophie Stark's life, that draws the reader in. The difficult and tenacious filmmaker Sophie inhabits the same world as the rest of us, but she doesn't really live in it. Her intensity informs her filmmaking, which in turn conveys her vision and emotions. A by-product of her hyperfocus is that she manipulates people to achieve her art. Those in her orbit come to understand this too late to have a happy relationship with her. As such, the book's narrators—among them a college basketball player, a musician, and a movie producer—disappear and reappear years later, interrupting the narrative flow. Mitigating that flaw is the character of a film critic, whose writings about Sophie's films are a constant for the reader. The other constant is Sophie's talent. Though derived from her existence as an outsider, it is the vehicle that allows her to bring an uncanny emotional depth to her work. North's nuanced prose and emphasis on characterization result in a thoughtful, moving read that explores the creative process and its effects on relationships. Agent: Julie Barer, Barer Literary. (May)