The Comeback by Ella Berman
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
Publication Date: August 3, 2020
Format: Hardcover - 384 pages
Paperback - 400 pages
Kindle - 394 pages / 4.3 MB
Audiobook - 10 Hours 21 Minutes
Nook - 384 pages / 1 MB
ISBN (Hardcover): 978-0593099513
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0593099520
ASIN (Kindle): B081M7Q9B8
ASIN (Audiobook): B082QSML61
BNID (Nook): 978-0593099537
Genre: Literary Fiction
Buy The Book:
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased a hardcover from my monthly BOTM subscription.
Book Description:
Grace Turner was one movie away from Hollywood’s A-List. So no one understood why, at the height of her career and on the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, she disappeared.
Now, one year later, Grace is back in Los Angeles and determined to reclaim her life on her own terms.
So when Grace is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to director Able Yorke—the man who controlled her every move for eight years—she knows there’s only one way she’ll be free of the secret that’s already taken so much from her.
The Comeback is a powerful and provocative story of justice in the #MeToo era—a true page-turner about a young woman finding the strength and power of her voice.
My Book Review:
The Comeback by Ella Berman follows the traumatic story of a young actress who takes back her life after being controlled by her mentor for over nine years.
Grace Turner was discovered by a casting director in London when she was thirteen years old. The producers of a movie called her parents and asked them to fly out to Los Angeles so Grace could have a screen test. Grace got the role in the movie and her family moved to Anaheim, California, and her acting career began. She was given a team to manage her career (agent, manager, publicist) and director Able Yorke took her under his wing and became her mentor. As a child actor, she put her trust into Able, but through their nine-year relationship, Able controlled every aspect of her life, isolating her from everyone, including her family. Just when she was one movie away from joining Hollywood's A-List, something happens and Grace disappears. One year later, Grace's journey to find herself leads her to use her newfound strength and power to free herself from a traumatic secret she had endured by the one person whose hands she had put her life and career dreams.
The Comeback is a very difficult story to read, and the storyline was so disturbing and emotionally overwhelming that it made me gasp as I turned the pages. I couldn't imagine how a young girl who put her life and trust into a person who was supposed to mentor her career could turn out to be such a narcissistic and controlling man, isolating Grace from everyone that she became so socially inept of even knowing how to be a normal functioning person. Then you add in Grace's dysfunctional family relationship, and you just can't help but feel the full gamut of emotions that simply leaves you exhausted.
As I followed the alternating timelines of flashbacks of Grace's past with the present, I had a hard time relating to Grace as she struggled to acclimate to normal daily life since everyone had taken care of her every need for nine years, while also learning to become socially adept as well. Her struggle with the traumatic secret she had carried and the ultimate determination to reclaim her life was so hard to digest, but I admired her perseverance to finally become a strong young woman in control of her own life. Grace's story is so raw, intense, and bittersweet, it left me shaken but glad that she ultimately got her comeback.
The Comeback is a compelling and thought-provoking story of reclaiming one's life and seeking justice.
Rating: 4 Stars 
About The Author
Ella Berman grew up in both Los Angeles and London, where she studied psychology before working at Sony Music. Her debut novel, The Comeback, was selected as a Read with Jenna book club pick, and her follow-up, Before We Were Innocent, was a Reese’s Book Club pick. Raised by two former hippies on the music and art of the 1960s and 70s, she lives in London with her husband, their senior dog, and their daughter. Her third novel, L.A Women was published in August 2025.
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