Marjorie Morningstar
(Book)

Marjorie, an aspiring young actress with romantic dreams, finds happiness in her middleclass fate after frustrating ambitions and a disillusioning love affair.

"A starry-eyed young beauty, Marjorie Morgenstern is nineteen years old when she leaves New York to accept the job of her dreams--working in a summer-stock company for Noel Airman, its talented and intensely charismatic director. Released from the social constraints of her traditional Jewish family, and thrown into the glorious, colorful world of theater, Marjorie finds herself entangled in a powerful affair with the man destined to become the greatest--and the most destructive--love of her life. Rich with humor and poignancy, Marjorie Morningstar is a classic love story, one that spans two continents and two decades in the life of its heroine. This unforgettable paean to youthful love and the bittersweet sorrow of a first heartbreak endures as one of Herman Wouk's most beloved creations."--goodreads.com

"Herman Wouk's new novel is a love story. The chief figures are Marjorie Morgenstern, a pretty Jewish girl of Manhattan who at seventeen sets out to become an actress, and Noel Airman, the brilliant, enigmatic rake with whom she falls in love. Crowded with portraits, the story ranges wide in space and time; broad, colorful scenes unroll--of college romance, of theatre struggles, of family clashes, above all of a love affair that racks two lives as it blazes a reeling course from the Adirondacks to Broadway to Paris. This long novel is written with the power, clarity, and humor which made Mr, Wouk's The Caine Mutiny memorable. And in his intimate picture of a girl growing into womanhood through the stresses of passion, he breaks new ground in his storytelling career."--Original dust jacket.