A Crown Of Stars – Shana Abe (1)

“Possibly one thing.” “One thing. One person, do you mean?” She shrugged once more, deliberate, then bit into the grape, a burst of cool sweetness. “I see. But is this person more important than Cecil B. DeMille?” Rita looked up sharply, and Charles smiled. “Yes, him. Director General of the Lasky Feature Play Company.

You might recall he was once one of my actors. Right now he’s in California preparing to make a motion picture I think uniquely suited to your talents, a four-reel feature to be called The Unafraid. I’ve already mentioned your name for the lead. A brave young heiress who unwittingly falls in love with two noble brothers, one good, one evil.” He leaned forward, dropping his voice back into that dramatic whisper.

“Who will prevail?” Who, indeed. JUST OVER A year ago, Rita had found herself one of the most popular leading ladies on Broadway, drowning in accolades and fawning fans, and she was cold and alone and exhausted. Frohman’s Kismet had propelled her to a level of fame she had never imagined. She played Marsinah, a beggar’s daughter in a fantastical Far Eastern realm, a girl swathed in diaphanous scarves and sequins, in love with a prince in disguise.

It was a typical story, yes, certainly one that had been told before in more ways than could be tallied, but the dialogue was crisp and modern and the actors dedicated. It ran at the Knickerbocker Theater forever and a day, it seemed—although in truth, it was six months —with every show sold out, even the matinees. Her dressing room brimmed with flowers; love notes from men she’d never met sat in stacks on her cosmetics table; love notes from women she’d never met sat alongside them.

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This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: c9f6c4a27277bf7c
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 4,214,875 bytes (4.02 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781496751355, 9781496751362, 9781496751379
• Pages: 311
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 471.98 minutes
• Total Words: 94,396
• Total Characters: 534,742
• Average Words per Page: 303.52
• Average Characters per Page: 1719.43

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