cover image Living Color

Living Color

Kate Coscarelli. Dutton Books, $17.95 (371pp) ISBN 978-0-453-00533-3

The author of Fame and Fortune presents a contemporary version of The Prince and the Pauper that dives into the slimy side of Hollywood with positive relish. Suburban housewife Lilah Conway is shocked to hear from a twin sister she never knew she haddoubly so when her twin turns out to be Lady Rose, a famous black singer starring in an evening soap opera. A switch is made when Craig Kimball, aging actor and dedicated sadist who tormented Rose as a young actress, is scheduled to appear on the show as her newest lover. Lilah takes the part of the beautiful prima donna in sequined gowns, Rose wears a blond wig to the Rotary Club dinner and Kimball, who intended to finish the job he started years before, finds the task harder than he expected. Fans of the Hollywood Babylon genre will find entertainment here, but others will be put off by the novel's stiff start and utterly implausible plotting. (May 21)