Nick Hornby is an expert story-teller who reveals the nuances of his characters' lives, and in the process, allows readers to understand a world unlike their own. His expert lens is most often trained on male characters, although 2001's How to Be Good is an exception, and the male protagonists in 2009's Juliet, Naked, share pages with a strong woman who goes beyond love interest.

Hornby's latest novel, Funny Girl, treads in less familiar territory. Not only is it centered on a woman, it's also set in the past. He has entrenched his female protagonist in a man's world: that of comedic actors in the 1960s. Today, Mindy Kaling, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler stand out among their peers; in the world of Funny Girl's Barbara Parker, Lucille Ball is the aspiring actress' only role model.

But Barbara is determined to move ahead, no matter the cost. After earning the title of Miss Blackpool 1964, she realizes the crown is only a guarantee that she'll be stuck in Blackpool indefinitely. So Barbara packs her bags, moves to London and ultimately transforms herself into Sophie Straw, a darling of the silver screen.

The novel feels bloated at times, as it traverses decades of Sophie's eventful life. But as Hornby chronicles Sophie's development as an actress and the ways class and age influence life and love, he reveals a portrait of an era—and of a woman crafting a lasting legacy.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

This first new novel from Hornby in five years comes at an auspicious time: the film version of his Whitbread finalist, A Long Way Down, came out this summer; the NBC series About a Boy, based on his 1998 novel, is taking off; and he wrote the screenplay for the film version of Cheryl Strayed's Wild, which stars Reese Witherspoon. In this book, set in Sixties London, from-the-sticks Sophie Straw turns herself into a television starlet.

Barbara is a blonde bombshell who flees the Miss Blackpool pageant for London, intent on stardom as a comedienne like her idol Lucille Ball. A talent agent mistakes Barbara for a minor celebrity and has designs on transforming her into a glamour girl but realizes her broad northern accent is best suited for comedy after all. Hence, Sophie Straw is born. It's the early days of television and Sophie shows up for an audition in which she charms writers Bill and Tony (both closeted homosexuals, this is the 1960s) into writing a sitcom expressly for her. Producer Dennis is similarly smitten. They bring in Clive as Sophie's handsome, square conservative husband, Jim. Sophie plays a "beautiful, chippy, Labour-voting northerner," named Barbara. Their unlikely pairing becomes an instant hit for the BBC's light entertainment division. Chapters follow each successive season ("series," in British parlance), the show's eventual descent, and each of the main character's lives post-prime time. While the fictionalized historical parts are compelling, the overall tone is flat, and the characters lack dimension. VERDICT For a novel about comedy, the humor is off camera, implied but not evident. Hornby's (High Fidelity; About a Boy) usual spark is missing. A readable but melancholy and definitely not funny book. [See Prepub Alert, 9/15/14.]—Christine Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA

Barbara Parker of 1960s Blackpool is a big fish in a small pond—beautiful, astute, and with aspirations of making it in television like her idol Lucille Ball. Upon moving to London, Barbara changes her name to Sophie and gets her big break. She walks in to an audition she's not suited for and leaves with the writers excited to pen a show specifically for her. The majority of Hornby's clever novel follows Sophie and her creative circle of friends through the success of the subsequent program on BBC. There's Clive, Barbara's foppish costar, Tony and Bill, the bantering and bickering writing partners who pen each episode, and Dennis, the producer who alternately fights for their program's creative direction and struggles to hide his growing fondness for Sophie, a woman he believes is completely out of his league. Hornby wonderfully captures the voice and rhythms of broadcast television of the time, and seems to delight in endless inversions of art imitating life imitating art, his characters inspiring and feeding upon the storylines they produce. The result is a delightful collection of characters that care as much as they harm, each struggling to determine who they want to be. (Feb.)

Barbara Parker of 1960s Blackpool is a big fish in a small pond—beautiful, astute, and with aspirations of making it in television like her idol Lucille Ball. Upon moving to London, Barbara changes her name to Sophie and gets her big break. She walks in to an audition she's not suited for and leaves with the writers excited to pen a show specifically for her. The majority of Hornby's clever novel follows Sophie and her creative circle of friends through the success of the subsequent program on BBC. There's Clive, Barbara's foppish costar, Tony and Bill, the bantering and bickering writing partners who pen each episode, and Dennis, the producer who alternately fights for their program's creative direction and struggles to hide his growing fondness for Sophie, a woman he believes is completely out of his league. Hornby wonderfully captures the voice and rhythms of broadcast television of the time, and seems to delight in endless inversions of art imitating life imitating art, his characters inspiring and feeding upon the storylines they produce. The result is a delightful collection of characters that care as much as they harm, each struggling to determine who they want to be. (Feb.)