Charity Trickett is not so glamourous – Book Review

Years ago when I was in the Vancouver B Movie Factory, I joined one of their film shoots last minute and before I knew it, I ended up having to replace another actress who had to take care of her ill mother. Right before I took the role that day, another actor on set pointed out my talented abilities, asking me “What the hell are you doing here?” as he believed I could succeed even better in someplace like Los Angeles or New York. My main reason being I probably would’ve struggled in both of those areas and end up on the streets dancing for nickels. No matter how much talent one has or how great their abilities are, the path isn’t instantaneous. It depends on who you know, and to know you won’t be noticed right away by somebody who will send you on your way. Sometimes you got to blaze your own trail. That’s what I’ve been doing with this website. More importantly, despite the two places I mentioned, there’s always a high level and scandals and gossip which is what everyone wants these days. While I enjoy a good dosage of it myself nowadays, I usually let occasional guest writer Isaac chirp and chime in with that kind of content. I am however considering having him write more often. Anyways, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stories that happen in Los Angeles, and they’re so unbelievable you’d think they were fiction. Well, Christine Stringer took a page out of her own personal story and managed to make an entire novel off the concept. I have to say this really managed to grip me in ways I could never expect. As it tells the story of a young woman who moves to LA in hopes of taking on a new career and hoping to level up, it shows us some personal struggles and that life in that area isn’t as easy as everyone seems to fictionalize. However, unlike most fictional stories I’ve heard film industry-wise, this one seems so bluntly truthful you’d think it was real.

Charity is somewhat coasting along through her work as a Production Assitant helping out the best she can around a film set and she decides to meet her boyfriend for a quick one night stand while she has time off set. When Charity comes back to a shocking surprise, her life gets out of hand at first, but a director named Casper sees her potential offering a better job working in LA with his assistant Saffron and Charity excitedly does so. Things are rocky at first given all the paperwork she has to get through, and most times Saffron sends Charity on wild goose chases with certain errands. But with her hardworking attitude and her nice friends from fellow assistant Daniel to actor Blake Anthony, Charity makes a name for herself managing to befriend a celebrity named Vivy Parker, develop feelings for a colleague named Kai, and even at one pont, being accused of pirating a movie. I happened to get really into these moments when Charity and Vivy made the front page of every magazine suggesting some kind of gossip, Charity managing to outdo her so-called boss Saffron with small victories, and of course the ever-so edgy moment when Charity brought a DVD of a movie called Diffuser she helped on to a screening, only to lose it. At that point, my heart was racing as she was under investigation from the FBI with the possibility of losing everything she ever worked for. As you read on, you start to feel for her yourself, and while some parts aren’t the most believable at times, you’d swear this was so realistic you could relate to the struggles of an assistant in the film industry even if you don’t work in that industry. Most LA stories, you don’t want to relate too much to the characters, especially if they’re depressed. In some cases, like Charity’s, you can understand her struggles because you’ve been through them. Not the struggles in the most exact ways of terms, but struggles somewhat like them. A great story with a lot of amazing moments, a wide spread of interesting characters both from longtime friends to new connections, and the captures of personal issues we can somehow relate to, this book is a must-read for someone who enjoys telltale content both realistic and fictional. After reading this book, I have to wonder how similar the real story is, and I can’t wait to see if any more film industry stories will be coming from Christine real soon.