books | The Biograph Girl by William J. Mann

More than 95% of what i read is fiction, mostly mysteries & sci-fi, the non-fiction included behind the scenes of tv shows & movies as well as biographies. Not sure if that includes my textbooks from school. Some of those might have been fictitious, or at least somewhat confused.
I find that I prefer some mix of fiction in with the fact, historical fiction; the Phillipa Gregory Tutor series & the like. that's what drew me to this novel. There was an actual "biograph girl" Florence Lawrence who was the first female movie star & one of the first victims of movie star fame as well. When after being away from the movies for a few years, she found parts hard to come by. Reduced to being an extra at MGM, she killed herself at the age of 52.
The novel poses the question of : "what if she lived?" taking advantage of her roommate's death, Florence convinced a doctor friend to say it was her & ran off to have a new life. The story switches between her life before, during & after her career in movies & her "rediscovery" by twin brothers who each want to tell her story in their own way (one's a writer, the other a filmmaker).
The thing is, I believed that it could've happened like it was written. I could've done without the story of the brothers estrangement & their own stories thrown in. Lawrence's story was enough for me.