Marilyn: The Passion And The Paradox by Lois Banner (From Worcester News)

Marilyn: The Passion And The Paradox by Lois Banner

10:00am Saturday 18th August 2012 in Books

Marilyn: The Passion And The Paradox by Lois Banner is published in hardback by Bloomsbury, priced £20. Available now.

Approaching the 50th anniversary of the death of one of the 20th century's most enduring icons, we are privy to another interpretation on Norma Jeane Mortenson, aka Marilyn Monroe.

This time, American author Lois Banner presents a precis on why the screen actress was equally a figure of allure and heightened sexuality, and a vulnerable creature, open to abuse, with a tendency to explore lesbian desires.

It's a heavy tome, but overall the examination of Monroe's family background and her early, constantly disrupted life, plus her adulthood, early death and beatification in the spotlight, is a wonderful read.

It may offend many people who idolise Monroe, or just don't want to believe an alternative history exists, but nonetheless, heroes are there to be examined.

And Banner is more than entitled to offer her thoughts on one of the biggest heroes of them all.

8/10

(Review by Denise Bailey)