Finola Hughes and Digby Diehl: Soapsuds

Soapsuds

Finola Hughes and Digby Diehl

When British actress Kate McPhee learns that her live in lover was cheating on her with her best friend, she needs to get away from them. She accepts a job on the soap opera Live For Tomorrow and quickly realizes that daytime programming is nothing like the theatre work she did back home. She quickly learns to avoid diva Meredith Contini who has been on the show since its inception and refuses to let an actor or actress upset her.

Kate also learns how to cope with the fans who have taken her into their hearts. She has the unique experience of attending a soap opera convention where anything goes; she is paid extra to be interviewed on radio and television shows where she has to be careful of what she says concerning future plots. Kate also gets used to fans believing she is the lesbian detective she plays in a storyline involving vampires. After a major adjustment she realizes that the group is her American family and she belongs there.

Finola Hughes, who originated the role of Anne Devore on General Hospital and All My Children, takes readers backstage so they can see how a soap opera is produced and how much of the character belongs to the star. The actor's works long hours under gruelling conditions because they need to work, not just for the money but because of the desire to perform. Kate McPhee is a charming chick lit lead protagonist who feels that California, especially Hollywood, is an alien planet. Soap opera fans will wonder if the characters are based on actual people and if so, who and on what show.

Harriet Klausner