Martyn Tarne's trip to England to be an actress swiftly came acropper thanks to stolen traveller's cheques. Her search for employment has, for a fortnight, been a fruitless slog, and it is only when all other chances have come up blank that she heads for the theatre of her famous distant cousin, Actor-Director Adam Poole. But she's too late for the auditions, and near collapse from hunger and exhaustion.Sheer luck gives her a chance to be not an actress but a dresser, and she's more than happy to take the opportunity. But Martyn's resemblance to Adam only brings to a boil the simmering tension of a cast close to coming to blows.This is a reasonably clever mystery, but the attraction here is the fairytale of down and out actress making good. Martyn is a little _too_ good at times, but sympathies thoroughly engaged, I happily read and re-read this and am pleased each time.The book is unusual for its time by including plot elements including marital rape, and the problem of an openly homophobic writer who thinks far too much of himself.
