By Sidney Sheldon. Grade: CSidney Sheldon is time and time again pitted as one of the world’s all-time best fiction novelist. From being an author to a screen writer to a producer, Sidney Sheldon has done it all and then some more. A Stranger in the Mirror, a fiction suspense novel, is the third of his career.Toby Temple is a superstar, the world’s funniest man. He gets any woman that he wants, but under the superstar image is a lonely man. Jill Castle is a sensuous starlet. She has a dark and mysterious past and has an ambition even greater than Toby’s. Together they rule Hollywood.The plot is not as simple as the synopsis. The plot follows the life and times of Toby Temple, a youngster born in the family of a German butcher who apparently is of no good and his mother has held the mantle of the house for a very long time. All through his teenage, he tries to make his mother happy. But (atypical of Sidney Sheldon style), his teenage was full of exploits, so to speak. A very innocent looking boy, he could have any girl and woman he wanted. But he had some other things in his sight.He had harboured a childhood hobby of mimicking others and decided of making it big as an entertainer. In the beginning, he found it very hard to make ends meet. But then (with some serious help of his charm and looks) he finds two people who change his life. He finally makes it big.On the other hand, Jill Castle a.k.a. Josephine Czinski, born to a poor family (she gave a hard time being born) never wanted to do anything extraordinary. But a personal tragedy pushed her into the streets of Hollywood which then became her ultimate fantasy. But she couldn’t make it big. She used every possible way, every single avenue, but still she couldn’t make it past the bylanes of Hollywood.Enter Toby Temple into Jill Castle’s life. Temptingly, she makes Toby fall for her. Together they begin to rule the roost. Using every single connection that Toby has, Jill virtually reaches the pinnacle of Hollywood.However, her plans are altered when a personal tragedy strikes Toby and he is reduced to a vegetable, good-for-nothing. It is from this moment that Jill shows some semblance of actual care and affection for Toby. While Toby is bed-ridden and has shrunk to a sorry equivalent of an invalid, Jill vows to get him up, bring him back from this sorry excuse of life to his original glory. She does anything and everything to do so when even the doctors had given up and eventually succeeds (to some extent atleast).But there is a catch. By now, she is really fed up of Toby and her sick and disgusting life which she chose for herself. It is at this point of time that Jill’s old flame re-enters into the picture. She deviously plots to kill Toby and murders him. Amidst all this, a secret form Jill’s past comes back to haunt her, a secret which is so explosive that it ends up destroying Jill’s life, completely ruining it leaving it in tatters.Completely devastated by the utter reality of her life’s condition, she runs amok on the deck where she sees Toby’s reflection in the sea. It seemed that Toby was calling him from the other world. Ridden with guilt, she dives into the sea and “joins Toby in the afterlife”.The novel is explicit in every sense of the word. The steamy scenes, the lustful feelings surrounding the storyline, the darker side of ambition are just not enough to cover for the weak and hackneyed storyline. Although Sidney Sheldon is known for his commercially saleable writing, he always adds tight twists and the plot progresses at a good, if not great, pace. But this time, all there is to the novel is a bleak storyline gift wrapped in lust, desire and ambition.Originally reviewed at www.vaultofbooks.com
Novel ini memakai setting tahun 1940-1960-an. Novel bercerita tentang Toby Temple, seorang anak laki-laki dari keluarga miskin yang lari ke New York untuk menghindari tanggung jawab karena menghamili teman sekelasnya sewaktu SMA. Toby yang mempunyai bakat menjadi pelawak kemudian berjuang keras untuk masuk ke dunia hiburan. Dengan rasa percaya diri, perjuangan keras, keberuntungan, bakat dan kepandaian berkomunikasi akhirnya dia mulai menapak menjadi artis yang mengorbit di level internasional. Keberhasilannya itu tidak terlepas dari dukungan manajernya yakni Clifton Lawrence dan tim penulis serta orang2 di belakang layar yang sangat handal. Cuma sayangnya keberhasilan Toby tidak bisa dinikmati oleh ibunya terkasih yang telah meninggal saat Toby masih hidup menggelandang. Sedangkan ayahnya yng hidup di panti jompo dirasakan kurang terlalu dekat baginya. Toby pernah menikah dengan Milli yang seorang wanita simpanan pimpinan mafia, namun pernikahan itu tidak berlangsung indah karena perkawinan itu dilandasi keterpaksaan. Perkawinan itupun terputus karena Millie meninggal ketika melahirkan anak pertamanya yang akhirnya ikut meninggal juga. Dengan bermodal ketenaran dan hartanya, Toby akhirnya lari dari pelukan satu wanita ke wanita lainnya. Toby menjadi terasing dan kesepian di tengah-tengah keberhasilannya.Di sisi lain, novel ini menceritakan nasib Josephine Czinsky seorang gadis cantik keturunan Polandia miskin yang dibesarkan dalam keluarga yang agamis. Josephine remaja mengalami patah hati karena David yang dicintainya menikah dengan orang lain. Josephine kemudian berpetualang ke Hollywood dengan harapan menjadi bintang film. Namun ternyata perjuangannya sangat berat bahkan dia menjadi korban sindikat pembuatan film porno. Josephine yang kemudian berganti nama menjadi Jill kemudian putus asa berusaha menjual diri kepada sutradara atau orang2 film untuk mendapatkan peran di berbagai film.Nasib akhirnya mempertemukan Jill dengan Toby yang saling kesepian. Mereka akhirnya menikah. Namun setelah menikah, Jill memanfaatkan posisinya sebagai istri Toby yang bintang film kelas atas untuk melakukan aksi balas dendam terhadap orang-orang perfilman yang selama ini telah menindasnya. Bahkan dengan semena-mena dia juga memecat Clifton Lawrence yang merupakan manager dan orang yang berperan besar mengatrol karir Toby. Toby yang selalu diforsir kerja keras akhirnya mengalami stroke. Jill dengan rasa cintanya merawat Toby dan timbullah keajaiban dimana Toby bisa sembuh dari stroke. Setelah sembuh dari stroke, Toby melakukan pertunjukan di Eropa termasuk di Moskow. Saat di Moskow, Toby kembali mengalami stroke yang lebih parah. Di Moskow ini Jill sebelum pulang ke Hollywood, sempat bertemu David yang sudah menjadi milyarder muda. Toby semakin hari semakin parah sakitnya. Di sisi lain Jill, mulai terpikat kembali dengan David. Jill kemudian melakukan pembunuhan berencana terhadap Toby yang tidak berdaya dengan mendorong Toby dan kursi roda masuk ke kolam renang. Setelah Toby meninggal, Jill akan menikah dengan David. Namun rencana pernikahan yang sudah direncanakan menjadi batal karena David shock mengetahui bahwa Jill pernah main di film porno. Jillpun akhirnya bunuh diri dengan kegagalan cintanya ini....Menurut saya, novel ini tidak terlalu istimewa dengan alur yang mudah ditebak dan datar. Jadi jangan berharap memperoleh hikmah pembelajaran atau inspirasi yang dalam dari novel ini.....
What do You think about A Stranger In The Mirror (1995)?
I was really debating with myself if I should give this book a 3 or 4 star. I really love some parts of this book, esp. Toby and Jill's love story. I thought it was a hair-raising kind. Just thinking of love that made one come back from the dead. I cried when Toby got up from his vegetable state, walked on his own and cried "Jillll...." when he didn't see Jill as she was so bone-deep exhausted and sick. He must have thought something bad happened to her and his deep love for her made him get up and look for her. That was really incredible, a test that showed what true love could do.The only thing that I didn't like so much is the amorality of the main characters. They were vengeful, wicked, ungrateful.Sheldon's portrayal of the showbiz world was simply staggering and informative. Well, he was in that business for decades, so he knew what he was talking about.Nonetheless, Sheldon has done it again! The twists were so unexpected, I didn't see Jill's last cruel action and David's secret coming.
—Sherry Lynne
This being my first Sheldon read, has proven to be a disappointment and I have decided to never include his works in my future reads. This novel juggles with a handful of words through out the novel and this repetitiveness, becomes unbearable after a point. This novel is just like those sleazy movies with nothing to offer but sex. The theme of this novel is a mystery to me because of the fact that an industrious, painstaking artist who worked his ass of through out his prime age, with a meagre earning and distress being his constant acquaintance, emerged to be the most successful star in the unruly universe of Hollywood and survived, but amidst a healthy, buoyant life, a beautiful and loving wife to accompany him is with, is gravely affected by series of strokes that paralyses him and takes from him his most precious gift, his voice. And this happens as the book suggests because of his back- breaking work schedule. Bull shit. An once this devoted wife, cheats of her husband with her high school lover and blah blah blah. This novel should not be called a novel because it has nothing novel to offer. It sucks. Do not read it, i repeat do not read it...
—Shobhit Tiwari
Esta obra estuvo tan fascinante que escribiré dos mensajes a públicos de diferentes áreas.PARA LECTORES: Es una historia muy bien desarrollada, la prosa de Sheldon es rica en detallar los sucesos. Te enamoras de los personajes y de cierta manera, el libro te hace sentir un famoso más en el mundo del espectáculo.PARA LOS QUE SE DEDICAN O QUIEREN DEDICAR AL MUNDO TEATRAL: Se sentirán identificados y tomarán consejos que Sidney nos presenta a lo largo del libro. Soñarás y te convertirás en un Toby Timble. Excelente para todos aquellos que quieren perder el miedo en escena, aprenden del mejor artista de todos los tiempos (literario): Toby.Me encantó todo en general, no encontré ningún detalle malo, todo está excelente. Se ha convertido en uno de mis favoritos.
—Darío
