Once an acclaimed child star of vaudeville, Baby Jane Hudson performed for adoring crowds before a move to Hollywood thrust her sister, Blanche, into the spotlight. As Blanche's film career took off, a resentful Jane watched from the shadows as her own career faded into obscurity - until a tragic accident changed everything. Now, years later, the two sisters live in a decaying Hollywood mansion, isolated from the outside world. Crippled by the accident, Blanche is helpless under the control of her sister, who is slowly descending into madness. And when Baby Jane decides it's time to revive her childhood act, she won't let anything - or anyone - stand in her way.
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[They waited there in the deep summer shade of the alleyway, a small decorous band of your matrons and their fidgeting female offspring]***
(Mulholland Books, 11 April 2013, first published 1960, 304 pages, ebook, A Year of @EpicReads 2019, a book that's been adapted for the screen, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I've seen the movie many times, though not for years and it's one of my favourites. I was expecting to love the book. I did. The book is very close to the movie so I knew what to expect. This didn't take any pleasure out of reading the book. The book is so good. The movie is so good as well I kept picturing Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in my head as I read. The book is very dark at times, as Jane drinks more and more and Blanche finds herself in a helpless situation, tied to her bed and at the mercy of her increasingly unstable sister Jane. The book is also incredibly sad. I couldn't see either woman as a villain and felt incredible pity for them, mostly isolated from the world in their big house, haunted by memories of happier times. The book implies Jane is the real monster but a different truth is gradually revealed which I found heart-breaking. This is a stonker of a book. I loved every word.
