Book review: The Perfect Location by Kate Forster

Picture it ... a Hollywood film crew on location in the gorgeous Tuscan countryside, wall-to-wall Italian sunshine and three A-list actresses with suitcases full of designer clothes and enough emotional baggage to fill a hangar.

It’s the perfect plot for a sizzling summer read from Kate Forster, and what this Aussie debut author doesn’t know about celebrity, pop and fashion culture isn’t worth a paragraph in any self-respecting girls’ mag.

Big on haute couture, hormones and high jinks, The Perfect Location is a raunchy romp through the glitz, glamour, grind and grit that are the bedrocks of ‘celebrity’ life.

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Naturally, there are scandals aplenty and while the film’s leading ladies wrestle with hidden dreams, buried secrets and broken relationships, the go-getting director is haunted by the legacy of a love affair turned sour...

First off the plane in Perugia is English rose Rose Nightingale, a classic beauty and the greatest actress of her generation. Publicly she claims to be enjoying her single life but privately she is still reeling from an unhappy marriage and regrets never having had any children.

Sapphira De Mont is THE big name on set. She’s an intellectual and sexual powerhouse who has been top of the film industry for years, and goes to extraordinary lengths to guard her privacy, a privacy that hides a shocking addiction.

Last but not least is Calypso Gable, an up-and-coming American starlet with Californian looks, ‘buttercup’ blonde hair, slim frame, lean muscles and a super ambitious mother who is also her manager and has mercilessly cashed in on her daughter’s talents.

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Directing the proceedings in more sense than one is Tim Galvin, known to one and all as TG and as the coolest ‘young gun’ director in Hollywood. He possesses the rare gift of creating harmony on set, but his break-up with man-eating actress Lisa has taken its toll.

As they gather together in the Italian hills, they find out more about one another – and about themselves – than they ever thought possible.

Forster’s sultry story unfolds through the perspectives of the three actresses, allowing us to build up our own picture of three very different, but very troubled, women, all at the mercy of their pasts and their passions.

As we discover what makes them tick, we learn to live with their faults and foibles and gain an insight into how they negotiate a high voltage career path that most of us would find too hot to handle.

The Perfect Location is perfect escapist reading ... a book to tuck into your suitcase before jetting off to warmer climes.

(Avon, paperback, £6.99)

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