The Business

by Charlotte Bingham

Meredith Browne came up the hard way, starting right at the bottom as a child actress. On the other hand Max Kassov has always had everything - but despite their very different backgrounds the two of them are very alike and a mutual attraction develops into a passionate love affair. But Max finally betrays Meredith, leaving her humiliated and determined more than ever to rise to even greater heights than MAX if only to gain her longed for revenge.

THE BUSINESS chronicles all the tragedies and failures as well as the glittering rewards earned by a cast of truly memorable characters. Against the rich background of their uncertain but fascinating world here is a tale of romance and sex, of money and corruption, and of brilliant talent both used and abused.

1st edition Bantam 1998 paperback, fine In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

656 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

The Honourable Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham was born on 29 June 1942 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, wrote detective stories and was a secret member of MI5. Her mother, Madeleine Bingham, née Madeleine Mary Ebel, was a playwright. Charlotte first attended a school in London, but from the age of seven to 16, she went to the Priory of Our Lady's Good Counsel school in Haywards Heath. After she left school, she went to stay in Paris with some French aristocrats with the intention of learning French. She had written since she was 10 years old and her first piece of work was a thriller called Death's Ticket. She wrote her humorous autobiography, called Coronet Among the Weeds, when she was 19, and not long before her twentieth birthday a literary agent discovered her celebrating at the Ritz. He was a friend of her parents and he took off the finished manuscript of her autobiography. In 1963, this was published by Heinemanns and was a best seller.

In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non so se è stato un mio problema, forse non essendo abituata all'autrice ed al suo modo di scrivere, ma penso che si sarebbe potuto fare qualcosa di diverso.
È stato un libro molto lungo, a volte anche troppo, però è comunque scritto molto bene e non è così pesante. È stata comunque una lettura molto piacevole.
Lo consiglierei anche ad altre persone, però bisogna iniziare a leggerlo essendo consapevoli che non è un libro come un altro. Racconta ogni cosa nel minimo particolare, che poi serve per immedesimarsi nei personaggi.
Non è solo un libro, è un vero e proprio film.

[Outlander · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of my favourite books from a much favoured author. A heavy read that could have been made less tiring with judicial editing, I had to force myself to finish it. Not really a story of just Ms Browne & Mr Kassov at all, but also the tangled story of two writers (Jay & William) and many others too from the world of show biz - tacky !

[Do_81 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once you get into the story (and that's easy cause it's about a child actor going from rags to riches, what's not to love), there's 655 pages of juicy soap-opera shenanigans to enjoy. Unfortunately the characters are quite flat, even the main character, and especially the men (all horrible). The style reminds me a lot of Jilly Cooper.

[Caralyn Rubli · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of an agent, an actor, and two writers trying to make their way through The Business.
I hated it at the beginning, didn't hate it at the end.

[Shirley Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlotte Bingham's knowledge of 'The Business' is obvious. Good writing but a bit busy with all the characters, ploys and deceit. Another long story which could have been condensed. With 200 pages still to read, my enthusiasm started to wane, although I stuck it out until the bitter end. Mental note to self - only buy books with less than 400 pages!

[Berthine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very rich psychologically and revealing amazing insights into performers and the performing arts business..