Cease to Blush

Holy smokes! I have been captivated by a book. That's the best feeling. I have been packing this novel around, sneaking reads whenever I have time, trying to savour it and make it last but wanting more to eagerly gobble my way through the pages and taste each delicious development. At a conference I attended for work, I sneaked out of the AGM (well, that wasn't too difficult to give up) just so I could finish the last chapter in a quiet place.

Cease to Blush is two stories: The story of Vivian, an actor who survives mostly by working in TV and movies as an extra, jobs like posing as a murdered prostitute. Her boyfriend Frank, who she met on a set, works as an extras wrangler, and is trying to convince her to do live internet porn chat to boost their incomes. When the story opens, Vivian's mom, Josie, a women's studies professor at the University of BC and ardent feminist, has just died of cancer. Josie's partner Sally gives Vivian a trunk full of her mom's belongings. When she opens it she discovers astonishing secrets about Josie's earlier life as Celia Dare, a nightclub entertainer who hung out with Frank Sinatra and Robert Kennedy and had mobster boyfriends. The story is about Vivian's journey of discovery as she searches for a connection between this dangerous and colourful character and the mother who she knew all her life. Along the way, both Vivian and Celia are revealed as complex and authentic people. There are great smaller characters too: Sally the neighbour who becomes mom's life partner; Vivian's sexually ambivalent best friend Len and her sleazy but at least partly loveable boyfriend, Frank. Then there's mom's old pal and fellow party girl and performer, Annie West. I'm already trying to figure out who should play that role in the movie.

The writing style is earthy, real and immediate. There are graphic descriptions of sex and death and lots of details about everyday lives of work, love, money, home. Through it all, Livingston steers clear of cliches and sentimentality. I'm easily distracted (and sometimes annoyed) by obvious historical and cultural references, but not so in this story. They're interwoven in a way that enhances the development of the keeps the action moving along. The work that must have gone into establishing the setting does not show. It seems effortless, and only fitting.

Part of Celia's story is told by Annie, who Vivian goes to visit, and part in letters that Celia wrote to Annie and Annie returned to Vivian. It's all through Vivian's eyes. The parts that Vivian can't know for sure, she imagines and writes herself, basing the narrative on details gleaned from articles, books and videos that she uses to research the people her mom knew and times in which they lived. This provides a revealing subtext about the process of writing a novel grounded in such a strong sense of place, incorporating real-life characters. The result is satisfying on many levels.

My 100% heartfelt, goose-bumpy recommendation for Cease to Blush. You're going to love it.

Holy smokes! I have been captivated by a book. That's the best feeling. I have been packing this novel around, sneaking reads whenever I have time, trying to savour it and make it last but wanting more to eagerly gobble my way through the pages and taste each delicious development. At the conference that I was attending for work, I sneaked out of the AGM (well, that wasn't too difficult to give up) just so I could finish the last chapter in a quiet place.

The book is Cease to Blush, Billie Livingston's second novel. Livingston is a Vancouver author and poet and also the daughter of my good friend and poetry mentor, Irene Livingston. When I send Irene a poem and she really likes it, she tells me that it gave her goosebumps. Well, Billie's novel gave me goosebumps for 465 pages.

Cease to Blush is two stories: The story of Vivian, an actor who survives mostly by working in TV and movies as an extra, jobs like posing as a murdered prostitute. Her boyfriend Frank, who she met on a set, works as an extras wrangler, and is trying to convince her to do live internet porn chat to boost their incomes. When the story opens, Vivian's mom, Josie, a women's studies professor at the University of BC and ardent feminist, has just died of cancer. Josie's partner Sally gives Vivian a trunk full of her mom's belongings. When she opens it she discovers astonishing secrets about Josie's earlier life as Celia Dare, a nightclub entertainer who hung out with Frank Sinatra and Robert Kennedy and had mobster boyfriends. The story is about Vivian's journey of discovery as she searches for a connection between this dangerous and colourful character and the mother who she knew all her life. Along the way, both Vivian and Celia are revealed as complex and authentic people. There are great smaller characters too: Sally the neighbour who becomes mom's life partner; Vivian's sexually ambivalent best friend Len and her sleazy but at least partly loveable boyfriend, Frank. Then there's mom's old pal and fellow party girl and performer, Annie West. I'm already trying to figure out who should play that role in the movie.

The writing style is earthy, real and immediate. There are graphic descriptions of sex and death and lots of details about everyday lives of work, love, money, home. Through it all, Livingston steers clear of cliches and sentimentality. I'm easily distracted (and sometimes annoyed) by obvious historical and cultural references, but not so in this story. They're interwoven in a way that enhances the development of the keeps the action moving along. The work that must have gone into establishing the setting does not show. It seems effortless, and only fitting.

Part of Celia's story is told by Annie, who Vivian goes to visit, and part in letters that Celia wrote to Annie and Annie returned to Vivian. It's all through Vivian's eyes. The parts that Vivian can't know for sure, she imagines and writes herself, basing the narrative on details gleaned from articles, books and videos that she uses to research the people her mom knew and times in which they lived. This provides a revealing subtext about the process of writing a novel grounded in such a strong sense of place, incorporating real-life characters. The result is satisfying on many levels.

Next, Billie Livingston has a collection of short stories coming out called You Sound Tiny. While I wait for that I'm going to read her first novel, Going Down Swinging, and her poetry book, The Chick at the Back of the Church.

My 100% heartfelt, goose-bumpy recommendation for Cease to Blush. You're going to love it.

I loved this story of secrets!!! This story reminds me that my parents had a life before they had kids and makes me want to know more about that time in their lives and how it has shaped them to be what we know them as today. I loved this book and when I was forced to put it down, found myself thinking about what the characters where up to. Pick it up and enjoy it!!

I feel slightly awkward wading into these waters - but my fiance encouraged me after hearing how much I liked Cease to Blush, a book she insisted I read. Read it I did, somewhat grudgingly at first. Never did a dose of afianced compliance taste so good! The author, Ms Livingston, is a talented lady, if this book is any indication. Her craft is honed but the writing is rambunctious - fierce and funny in that, "Whoa, that's awfully close to home", sort of way. Cease moves at a thriller pace. Impressive for a book that's not a thriller. Unless they've invented a genre called, realtionship thriller. Woven into the fabric of the thing are some provocative observations about the culture (general and pop), with gender politics coming under particular review. The beauty is - none of it feels imposed or contrived. Everything is revealed through who the characters are, which is revealed through what they actually do. Imagine - just like in real life! My fiance probably would've had a tougher time getting me to read Cease if she wasn't able to advertise Livingston's vivid forays into the '60's world of NY, Vegas and LA mobsters (Sam Giancana, Johnny Roselli), politicians (Jack and Bobby Kennedy), and, of course, the Rat Pack. I expect this will be made into a movie. It'd be fun to cast these plum roles. It's the kind of book that'll get 'em talking - from Oprah, to yoga classes, to sports bars. I think the person who reviewed it for the Globe and Mail pretty much covered it. So, to sum up, this manly man loved it. (really). Okay, honey? Can I watch some football now? Please?

I loved this book. Two women (mother and daughter) struggle with the push and pull of the past and future. Vivian (the daughter) is strong, sharp-witted, tender, a tad trashy, and someone you'd want on your side. She's that person in the room who says the things you're not supposed to, points out the elephant in the living room, even snuggles up on his lap to prove a point and secretly manages to feed off the strong arms of the beast around her. She'd be the one drinking too much wine and keeping your glass full at a stuffy dinner party. She had me laughing out loud and wanting to hold her hand for comfort. Without giving too much away, there are great shifts from a glamourous past that reveals the life of Celia, Vivian's mother, a well-respected feminist university professor, to a not-so-shiny present in which Vivian juggles a career as a film extra, an adoring but sexually predictable boyfriend, and the revelation of her dead mother's secret and fairly scandalous past. A great summer read. Fix yourself a cocktail and get reading. Better yet, make that a pitcher, because this book is hard to put down.

Readers jaded by baby-boomer, Rat-Pack stories rejoice. Cease to Blush puts a refreshing Canadian spin on the last 40 years of American popular culture.
I found Livingston's second novel fascinating, connecting the dots in a thrilling what-might-have-been tale of self-exploration.
That she draws parallels between her protagonist Vivian and her mother--who apparently met every Rat-Pack era celebrity imaginable--is also satisfying.
Most impressive, also, is her attention to the seedier side of Vancouver's entertainment business--Internet porn and stints as a scantilly-clad extra. This is the kind of story more Canadians need to read.
It's vivd, suspenseful, and a fabulous read.

I enjoyed this book immensely. 4.5 stars. I must admit I don't often pick up books by female authors, to my great loss I'm sure -- but what attracted me was the mention of the rat pack on the jacket -- an era that I love to ponder like I would a car crash. I was captivated from the first page. I enjoyed the pitch perfect voice of the narrator, her hilariously frustrated soul. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the rambling's of Frank and Dean and the other 60s lounge lizards woven seamlessly into the lives of fictitious characters' --a significant portion of the book is actually a creation of one of its characters, which is a source of fascination in itself, giving you more insight into the author within the author, if you will. It's a lot of fun and a provocative read. I would highly recommend it!