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The Stand-In
The Stand-In
The Stand-In
Ebook499 pages9 hours

The Stand-In

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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From the bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: “Tainted love, jealousy and, brilliant revenge—this book has got the lot” (New Woman).
 
Thirty-eight-year-old Jules Sampson is barely getting by as a working actor in London—until she gets a job as a stand-in for American movie star Lila Dune. Being the same age and in the same business, the two hit it off, but their careers couldn’t be more different. Jules may not be as beautiful and successful as Lila, but she’s a far better actor. Her impersonation of Lila is spot-on, and the two even slip into each other’s lives. It’s all just fun and games.

But Jules has made a dreadful miscalculation—one that takes her already simmering resentment of Lila to the boiling point. Consumed by jealousy, Jules is ready for her close-up—and no one is better prepared than her for her next big role . . .

Taking readers on a whirlwind of madness and obsession from London to New York to Los Angeles, “Moggach’s examination of the unbalanced mind is spellbinding, and the characters horribly believable. . . . This is [her] best novel yet” (Options).

“Compulsively readable . . . a triumph.” —Sunday Express

“Intelligent, persuasive, sensuous, perceptive . . . what an accomplishment!” —Fay Weldon, author of The Life and Loves of a She Devil

“An exciting, deftly executed thriller with considerable psychological intrigue.” — Publishers Weekly

“With a marvelous snap of a windup, an absorbing, inventive chiller, complete with undertones of a sour, wry humor.” —Kirkus Reviews
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 16, 2022
ISBN9781504077118
The Stand-In
Author

Deborah Moggach

Deborah Moggach is an English novelist and screenwriter. She graduated from Bristol University, trained as a teacher, and then worked at Oxford University Press. In the mid-seventies, Moggach moved to Pakistan for two years, where she started composing articles for Pakistani newspapers and her first novel, You Must Be Sisters. Her novels The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Tulip Fever were adapted for film in 2011 and 2017 respectively. ​Moggach began writing screenplays in the mid-eighties. Her screenplay for an adaption of Pride & Prejudice starring Keira Knightley received a BAFTA nomination, and she won a Writers Guild Award for her adaptation of Anne Fine’s Goggle-Eyes. She has served as Chair of the Management Committee for the Society of Authors and worked for PEN’s Executive Committee, as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Moggach currently lives in the Welsh Marches with her husband.  

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Rating: 3.4230769076923075 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    British stand-in for an American movie star gets all obsessive and stalky. Pretty good suspense novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of Deborah Moggach's best IMHO...a great tale of life on a film-set, some excellent quirky characters (loved the continuity girl) and a highly believable portrait of an 'over-ripe' film star who has to have a personal trainer to come round and 'bully her onto her bike'. This story brought Moggach's already high standard of writing to a new level of expressiveness and poetry. Highly recommended.

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The Stand-In - Deborah Moggach

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