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|title=My Life in Black and White

|author=Kim Izzo

|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton

|date=May 2013

|summary=When Clara Bishop’s husband leaves her for a younger model, her mother reminds her of the family curse. The women in her family are never the femme fatales, they are always the ones that get left alone. But Clara is not willing to accept this. She may be unable to finish a screenplay, but she might just be able to write another ending for herself.

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''My Life in Black and White'' starts off in a police station in England. The film noir theme that permeates the novel begins immediately. Clara Bishop is dressed in a gold evening gown, and treats the police officer who is interviewing her just as a femme fatale would. This girl has sass. But when she begins to recount her tale, it is clear this is a new development. The old Clara describes her life as something from a screwball comedy, not a film noir. How does a screenwriter-slash-gossip-columnist from LA end up being interviewed about an assault in England?

My only negative with this book was that the ending felt a little rushed. But really the ending did just need to tie up a few loose ends, the main plot of the novel is what makes it great and it more than makes up for the last section. Izzo uses film and historical references in such an original way, it makes the book so much more than a simple story of a woman scorned. Although Izzo’s purpose is clearly to complicate the noir themes she uses, she does it consistently from the perspective of a fan.

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