[.ca] The Other Side of Midnight (ISBN 1597770108)

a work that comes alive:
I read The Other Side of Midnight in 8th grade -- about 25 years ago. It was all the rage with the girls in my class. Until recently, I would have dismissed our interest as teenage morbid laciviousness. Now, I believe the book is just one of those works of magic that "come alive," regardless of "literary merit" or "socially reedeming value."

The book is good, but the movie is BETTER:
I saw this movie in 1977. Catherine was played by Susan Saradon and it was one of my favorite movies. If it is out on DVD or video, I would recommend checking it out.

The best book I have ever read:
I have read this book countless times. Reading books more than once is unusual, but this was intriguing. Sheldon did research for this book and pays off when the storyline takes you to the occupation of Paris during the second World War. What amazing detail! It really made me feel like I was living through that time. Don't miss the part when Noelle tries to help her friend escape the Nazis!! It had my heart pounding!! If you saw the movie and didn't like it, DO NOT skip the book. The movie left out the best parts!!

Sidney Sheldon's best novel:
This is Sidney Sheldon at his best, writing about romantic entanglements, reverses of fortune, thrilling suspense, and ultimate justice. Beautiful but poor Parisiene Noelle Page falls madly in love with American flyer Larry Douglas during WWII. When she becomes pregnant, he deserts her, thus setting her on a path of revenge that consumes her very being. Ruthlessly driven, she becomes a supermodel, movie star, and finally, as mistress to mega-rich Constantin Demiris, Noelle is reunited with Larry. Will she make him pay for what he did to her... or will she fall under his spell again? Noelle, Larry, and his innocent wife, Catherine, are such fascinating, memorable characters that you won't want to stop reading until you find out what happens to them next. The story takes us from a poor French fishing village to Paris, then Hollywood and Athens, and the excitement keeps building and building as Noelle comes closer to tying up lose ends with the dastardly Larry, who proves to be her match when it comes to plotting evil. But don't underestimate Noelle's lover, Demiris, who will use all of his resources to get what he wants. While this novel is enjoyable on its own, the story continues in Sheldon's "Memories of Midnight."

Just Plain Trashy:
This is standard Sheldon fare - cutthroats and graphic albeit cliche bedroom scenes. Same old story. Set during the 1940s, this book contains all of the ususal Sheldon fare including some poor editing. An example of poor editing was in the case of a character named Israel Katz, who had an amputated leg. Early in the book, it was his right leg and later in the book, his other leg was identified as the amputeded limb. Inconsistencies like that are inexcusable. Dramatis Personae Catherine - a silly, starry-eyed girl who has pie in the sky hopes like her dreamer of a dad. She has a crush on a boy in her senior class and when he somehow manages to convince her to spend a night with him, she makes bizarre comments and kills off a possible conquest. She drops out of college to work and becomes involved with one William Fraser, who is the only likable character in the book. A truly nice man, he has her interests at heart. Larry - a cruel, indifferent man. He manages to convince Catherine to marry him instead of Fraser. He would later jilt her for one Noelle Page after making attempts on her life so he can remarry. An erratic pilot, he is sacked from several airlines and mail runs before being hired as the private pilot for a Greek tycoon. Noelle Page - Catherine's foil; her opposite number. Noelle is a ruthless barracuda who was encouraged to believe she was born into a noble gentry. Instead, she was born in a fishing village in Paris, the daughter of another barracuda and an unknown sailor. The man she recognizes as her Papa sells her when she reaches puberty. She then goes on to seduce men and sharpen her teeth and claws. A Greek tycoon named Constantin Demiris who bears more than a passing resemblance to Ari Onasis takes in interest in the young barracuda. He woos her after a callous pilot named Larry who jilted her. These three lives collide. Larry supposedly kills Catherine and is executed in a trial after her disappearance; Noelle and Larry reconnect and Noelle meets a grim fate as well. A tale of revenge and excess, this one shares a place with other Sheldon novels. This is just too trashy for me.