Watermark Books and Cafe

"Untold Story" by Monica Ali (Scribner, ISBN 9781451635485, $25.00)  

Monica Ali, the distinguished British/Bangladeshi novelist, tells the fictionalized the story of Diana, Princess of Wales in her novel, "Untold Story." Published in Britain to coincide with the recent wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, Ali has been damned and praised equally for writing a story either way below her capability…or one with the depth equal to the tragedy of the gorgeous blonde’s life. 

What Ali has done is write a beguiling story of four women friends: a blonde, a red head, a brunette, and a dye job who live in Kensington—a town of 8000 in American suburbia.      

Imagine the lovely Princess staged her own disappearance and death in order to begin a new life in obscurity. Lydia moves to Kensington, takes an administrative job in a dog shelter and lunches with her new friends.  She also writes letters to Lawrence Standing, her loyal private secretary who guides her through her transformation and new life.  All goes as planned until a new resident recognizes a certain tone in Lydia's voice and a familiar green tinge in one of her eyes.    

As one British critic harshly noted, “[“Untold Story”] is the trashiest of premises wrapped up in fine-tuned observation.”  Trashy?  I didn’t think so.  Shallow? Maybe for a Man Booker prize shortlisted novelist, but it takes a gifted writer to pull off an entertaining meditation on the conflict between celebrity and happiness and the fine line between icons and iconoclasts.     

Review by Sarah Bagby