I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to read this book and am sharing my honest thoughts in this review.
I am not an actor, although I do enjoy reading stories about actors; particularly real ones. Judi Dench is an incredible actress, and I mostly knew her as playing the role of “M” in the James Bond franchise.
Going into this book, I did not know she had such a deep career in theatre, much less that her experience performing Shakespeare is extensive.
It was a lot of fun to hear personal input and specific memories from her past performances, and to gain a tiny bit of insight into who she is as a person; for example, I learned that she prefers performing in theatre rather than on film because if she messes up one night in the theatre, she can try to do better the next night, unlike the permanence of a film.
Following along with the structure of the book was a bit odd; for example, at some points I wondered why the author’s question was that question when it seemingly had nothing to do with the actress’ response. I understand it is written that way intentionally, though! I would recommend this book for readers who enjoyed the story of Evelyn Hugo so long as they know to be prepared for a more interview-esque writing style.