Years after her death, myths still circulate about Katherine O'Dell, Irish legend of stage and screen. Questions persist regarding her origins and her rise to fame. Of even more interest, of course, is her midlife decline, with a precipitous descent into madness and the perpetration of a shocking crime. In an effort to set the record straight, O'Dell’s daughter Norah takes on the task of fighting through the misrepresentations, revealing long-held secrets about both her mother and herself.

What an absolute pleasure, in the middle of the 2020 Australian summer, to read a book that so stunningly and effortlessly transports you to another time and place. You’ll feel as if you’re reading this under the soft grey skies of mid-century Ireland. Enright crafts images so stark you can see them clearly in front of you: the aging movie star in her Dior dress, the dirt and energy of a 1920s birth on a tenement landing, the excitement of the first dishwasher in Ireland magically dispelling dirt and ushering in a more modern future.

However, if you’re looking for a plot-heavy, fast-paced page-turner, look elsewhere. Enright’s skill lies in the creation of seemingly quiet stories with unparalleled emotional and psychological depth. Enright has a magical gift of imbuing more meaning in one or two sentences than most writers can manage in an entire book. Anyone who has ever read her Man Booker award-winning novel, The Gathering, will back me up on that one.

This may be premature, but I have a feeling Actress will make its way on to the ‘best of’ lists of 2020. Stay ahead of the curve, read it now.

Tristen Brudy works as a bookseller at Readings Carlton.