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Actress Lauren Graham has been in the news a lot recently since the show that made her famous, “Gilmore Girls,” is being revived on Netflix. Graham most recently starred in the show Parenthood, another popular family series. So why mention her in a book column? Turns out that Graham, along with being a talented actress, is also a good writer.
Graham’s debut, and currently only, novel is called “Someday, Someday, Maybe.” It’s the story of 26-year-old Franny Banks, a struggling actress living in New York City in the mid-1990s, which (not so coincidentally) was the time that Graham herself was a struggling actress living in New York City.
Franny is from Connecticut, where she was raised by her father, a teacher, after her mother passed away during her middle school years. The loss of her mom drove Franny to throw herself into acting, a place where she could pretend to be someone else. Her passion for acting lingered as she grew older, despite having a serious boyfriend in college and the possibility of a teaching career. After college she gave all of that up to move to Manhattan to pursue her dream.
She gave herself a three year deadline to achieve success of some sort. Success to her isn’t what the reader would expect. Franny isn’t hoping to land a major Hollywood movie. She wants to succeed as a theater actress who, one day, will host an evening at the 92nd Street Y.
At 26, she is nearing the end of her deadline with little to show for her work. She had a commercial job and was accepted into a well known acting class, but nothing else. To make ends meet, she waitresses at a comedy club but like many hopeful artists, struggles to pay her rent in Brooklyn. She shares an apartment with two friends: Jane, who hopes to become a producer, and Dan, whose goal is to write screenplays or science fiction. Meanwhile, Franny’s father wants her to come home and become a teacher.
Hope arrives after her work is showcased in her acting class. Two agents approach her; a flashy agency and a total character who has been in the business for years. Despite her better judgment, she signs with the flashy agency after they quickly book her a job.
In the meantime, her love life evolves as she begins dating an actor from class. At home, there is romantic tension between herself and her roommate, Dan.
Franny is an incredibly likeable character. She is someone who knows the right path, but doesn’t always make the best decisions. She’s plucky and talented and funny – much like Graham. You want Franny to have the success she dreams of and hope she will be recognized for her unique talents and looks.
The story ends hopefully, but not definitively. I would have liked to find out if Franny achieved her goals, but if she is as based on Graham, as she appears to be, it’s clear she gets the career in the end.
A lot of famous actors and actresses attempt to write novels, but Graham has true talent (both in acting and writing). “Someday, Someday, Maybe” is funny, smart and heartfelt. The novel was published in 2013 and she hasn’t written another since, although she is releasing a nonfiction book this fall.
With the hot weather officially taking over, “Someday, Someday Maybe” is the perfect vacation book. It’s light and fast-paced, but never dumb. Wherever you travel to this summer, throw this one in your bag and enjoy every minute of Graham’s wit and charm.
